UZHOROD. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) traveled to Ukraine on Friday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Both statesmen were traveling to Uzhhorod from Košice.
Zelensky arrived on Thursday night from Paris, where he held talks with some representatives of European Union states about supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. Fico returned from his working trip to China on Friday morning, where he met bilaterally with Russian President Putin on Tuesday.
Before leaving for Ukraine, he held talks with European Council President Antonio Costa at the Vyshny Nemecko border crossing. Zelensky also held talks with him.
The meeting between the Ukrainian president and the Slovak prime minister is taking place behind closed doors in Uzhhorod, a city in Transcarpathia that is just a few meters from the Slovak border.
The road to the border was relatively free of cars. The fact that an important political meeting was about to take place was indicated by the increased security measures upon arrival at the Vyšné Nemecké border crossing.
Armed soldiers were stationed at regular intervals. The editor of Korzára passed both border controls without any problems and without significant delays.
Paradoxical profit
There was nothing on the streets of Uzhhorod to indicate that a meeting of statesmen would be held. Only in front of the regional council building, from where the journalists left for the press conference, were police officers stationed at several points. While they waited, the journalists watched local children. They took advantage of the sunny weather and refreshed themselves in the fountain.
Uzhhorod had just over 100,000 inhabitants before the war, but during the war their number doubled. This is evidenced by the constantly working cranes and the rapidly growing new residential districts.
The Transcarpathian city paradoxically benefits from the war, not only many people but also companies from eastern Ukraine have moved here. It is safe, the war has not had any devastating effects on it.
The situation was different recently in Mukachevo, a city about 40 kilometers from Uzhhorod. On the night of August 20-21, Russian drones attacked a branch of an American company there, injuring 12 people.
Change of location
Fico and Zelensky began negotiations at 2:00 p.m. A press conference was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the railway station. However, the journalists learned that the location was changing. They did not know this when they stood in front of the regional council building.
One of the police officers standing nearby told reporters that he had been promising himself since the political negotiations that the situation would normalize, that the war would end, and they would live a normal life.
He said that many people from Kiev and other eastern parts of Ukraine have found a home in Uzhhorod."Although we are not directly suffering from the war conflict in the city, we have relatives in other parts of Ukraine and the situation there is much worse."
Olena (55) said she learned about the meeting of politicians from the media. After arriving home, she wanted to turn on the TV and see how the negotiations would go and what they would bring.
Strict controls
Seventeen-year-old Alexandra, a first-year student at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, also didn't know much about the important political negotiations. She only found out about it after a question from the editor of Korzár.
She spoke to us in Slovak. Her uncle died in the war. She said that life in Uzhhorod is safer than in other Ukrainian cities."It's definitely better here, but still, the war is difficult for us, for our mental health. It affects our daily lives."
Before boarding the bus that was supposed to take the journalists to the press conference location, they were subjected to a strict check. Their equipment and luggage were searched, everything had to be opened and shown.
During the inspection, the journalists were informed that they had to keep their phones inside and were not allowed to take them to the press conference. They were also told that the press conference would not be broadcast live online. When they objected that they were also using their phones as dictaphones, the soldiers told them that they would look into it. Later, they were allowed to use them in airplane mode.
Even during the bus ride, the journalists still didn't know where they were being taken. From the vehicle, it was clear that Uzhhorod was a clean city, decorated with Ukrainian flags and posters with the text: God, bless Ukraine, or God, protect Ukraine.
Meeting topics
One of the main topics of Fico's talks with Zelensky will be energy infrastructure. The Slovak delegation in Uzhhorod also includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Denisa Saková and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanár. The Ukrainian president is accompanied by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
During his meeting with Putin, Fico said he would raise the issue of Ukrainian attacks on oil infrastructure with Zelensky. He also announced that he had drawn several conclusions and messages from the hour-long private discussion with Putin, which he intends to convey to Zelensky on Friday.
The Prime Minister last visited Ukraine in October 2024, when a joint meeting of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments took place in Uzhhorod.
Read the most important news from eastern Slovakia at Korzar.sme.sk.
