Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the division within Europe has been very serious, the closer the country is to Ukraine, the more opposed to the expansion of the Russian-Ukrainian war, while the old men in Western Europe have a relaxed mentality and point the way.
In western Ukraine, in addition to Russia's feud with Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia next door are relatively cold, except for the scenes that are often on their lips, and the aid of weapons, food, and funds is relatively small.
In fact, the voices of the opposition in these countries are extremely strong, and the small countries, after all, have limited strength of their own, and they are afraid of the expansion of the war and "get on the bus" of themselves.
Some politicians even take a subtle stance, as if they are "supporting Russia." For example, former Romanian Foreign Minister Marga shouted: "Ukraine should spit out the land that belongs to Romania, Hungary, and Russia." ”
And Slovak Prime Minister Fizo put it more bluntly: "Ukraine is not a country, it is just a puppet of the United States." ”
As the current leader of Slovakia, Fizo is not well-known in international politics, but he is a veteran of Slovak politics.
Since the end of the Cold War and the independence of Slovakia, he has been active in politics for more than 30 years, served as prime minister four times, and is famous in Europe for his sharp political vision and pragmatic foreign policy.
Last year, Fizo compared China to the ballast of world peace, and when the United States is causing trouble everywhere, China's position on peace is even more precious. He even declared to the world: "China is now an important pillar of world stability!"
Fizo's actions are closely related to his "left-wing" identity, so what is the past of this political veteran? In early 2024, Robert Fizo plans to visit China, what impact will Fizo's attitude towards China and Russia have on Slovakia?
[a]
Top student in law: Robert Fizzo
Slovakia, just 30 years ago, was the same country as the Czech Republic next door, called "Czechoslovakia". Czechoslovakia was very important in Europe, and both world wars were related to it.
During World War I, Czechoslovakia belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was an Austro-Hungarian arsenal.
During World War II, Czechoslovakia was encroached upon by Nazi Germany, first taking away the Sudetenland and then directly annexed by the Nazis. The country's heavy industry and stockpiles of weapons strengthened the German army, allowing Nazi Germany to conquer Europe.
Although Czechoslovakia was a developed industrial country, its development was extremely uneven – the country's best was in the Czech region, and Slovakia to the east had a small population and poor economy.
But even so, the Slovaks aspired to autonomy and demanded power from the Czechs.
So in the early 90s, politicians from the two countries privately discussed a breakup, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia were divided. At the time of the official split between the two countries, Robert Fizo, a 28-year-old lawyer in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, was actively running for parliament in Slovakia.
As a top student of law, Fizzo worked as a lawyer and later entered the Slovak National Academy of Sciences to earn a public salary. After the independence of Czechoslovakia, Fizo, who was interested in politics, ran for parliament and became a member of the first Slovak parliament.
Robert Fizo was born in 1964 in Topolčani, western Slovakia, to a wealthy family, a forklift driver father and a state-run salesman.
Fizo did not think about participating in politics when he was a child, and for a working family, the road to becoming an official was very long.
Moreover, in the Czechoslovak era, the senior officials of the state were mainly Czechs, and the Slovaks had a very small voice.
Fizo wanted to be a journalist or an archaeologist as a child, but when he went to university in the early 80s, he chose to study law.
It turned out that the president of Czechoslovakia at that time was Hussack, a Slovak, and his series of reform measures led to the rapid development of the country, the political status of Slovaks was also improved, and the enthusiasm of young people for politics was greatly increased.
Because of the example of his predecessors, Fizo believes that politics is also a promising future.
Fizo joined the Czech Communist Party in 1987 and wanted to enter the government later, but two years later, the world changed - in 1989, when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia collapsed in Eastern Europe, Fizo had to join the Democratic Left Party and run for parliament in 1992.
[two]
Prime Minister Fizo: Leftist position, pragmatic attitude
The Democratic Left Party, which Robert Fizo joined at the beginning, was the former Communist Party of Slovakia, and although Fizo later established a new party, the general line was still left-leaning, that is, conservative and diplomatically pro-Russian.
At the beginning of his self-reliance, Fizo did not stand out, and he failed to run for the Attorney General's Office. Objectively, it was because Slovakia needed economic development at that time, and the left could not bring this.
Speaking of which, as a landlocked country, Slovakia had a hard time after independence: without the Czech leadership, its industrial level was not high, there was still a lack of markets, and the overall economy lacked vitality.
Slovakia is only commendable for agriculture and animal husbandry, at least to ensure that the national economy does not collapse.
In 2004, the country joined the European Union, and then the northern powers rewarded him with a bite to eat - Germany gave Slovakia a share of the auto industry, and the local development was rapid and Slovakia soon became a developed country.
When the days were better, the people's demands for welfare and social justice rose, and Slavic nationalism reared its head, and the left came to power.
In 2006, when the Direction Party won the general election, Fizo and several other parties formed a coalition and he became prime minister for the first time.
The young Fizo was ambitious and wanted to reverse the country's pro-Western one-way street, so he was unreserved in being pro-Russian.
At that time, when the United States was in full swing, NATO had already included Eastern European countries in its sphere of influence and expanded eastward to the borders of Russia.
Fizo criticized the United States for stationing troops on the Russian border and criticized the European Union for favoring Kosovo on the Kosovo issue, which led to a right-wing attack.
The EU sees Fizo in one hand and Russia in the other, and is worried that Slovakia will deviate from the EU's diplomatic principles and make a stumbling block for the EU Parliament. After all, EU decisions rely on democratic voting, and Slovakia's vote can decide a lot of things.
In 2010, Fizo's term ended and his Direction Party was defeated by the right, and Fizo stepped down. Later, in 2012 and 2016, he briefly served as prime minister, but in 2018 he stepped down due to political scandals.
To put it simply, Slovak politics is about alternating between the left and the right, and after the economy is stabilized, it is the diplomatic attitude that determines the government's approval rating.
From 2018 to 2023, Slovakia has had 4 prime ministers, during which the epidemic crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war have caused the left and right governments to quarrel.
With the Western sanctions against Russia, energy prices have skyrocketed, Slovakia's exports have been hit and inflation has occurred. The people's dissatisfaction with the West increased sharply, and at this time, Fizo returned with the slogans of "pro-Russian" and "independent diplomacy".
At the end of 2023, Fizo is once again prime minister, and the Direction party wins a quarter of the seats in parliament.
Before Fizzo came to power, he sharply criticized Slovakia for supporting Ukraine along with Poland and the Baltic states, arguing that such support was pointless and that there was no point in expanding the war.
Previously, Slovakia had given Ukraine its own home, Soviet-era MiG fighters and Russian S300 anti-aircraft missiles, and its domestic airspace was completely protected by NATO.
Fizo believes that not only Slovakia, but also NATO should stop any assistance to Ukraine and let Russia and Ukraine negotiate as soon as possible. Because of the energy problem and the Slavic national feelings, half of the Slovaks supported Fizo's policy.
Sure enough, after Fizo came to power again, he immediately announced the cessation of support for Ukraine, and said:
"If Ukraine joins NATO, it will be World War III, and I will not let this happen. ”
[three]
One of the most fragile countries in Europe, it is impossible to leave China and Russia
The attitude of the Slovak left towards Ukraine is not entirely due to the current international situation.
Historically, Slovakia has been a bit at odds with Ukraine.
It turns out that after World War II, the borders of Central and Eastern European countries have changed dramatically:
The entire country of Poland was transferred to the east, while Slovakia and Hungary lost part of their territory, and the westernmost part of Slovakia, "Carpathian Ruthenia", was ceded to the Soviet Union and included in Ukraine, which is the "Transcarpathian Oblast" on the border of Ukraine today.
So when the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, all countries gloated a little, and former Romanian Foreign Minister Marga even said that Ukraine should take the initiative to return the territory of the occupied countries.
The right wing of the Slovak government does not explicitly want land, but the pro-Russian attitude of the left is undisguised - on January 24, 2024, Fizo visited Ukraine and met with the Ukrainian prime minister to persuade the other party to negotiate peace early.
In the international arena, China is the representative power that advocates peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and Fizo has always had a high evaluation of China's diplomatic line.
When he first came to power more than a decade ago, Fizo visited China in his first year, for no other reason – China was a huge market, and Slovakia was in need of such a populous country as a friend at the time, which was dominated by agricultural exports.
In November 2023, the second month of Fizo's return to power, he wrote in a public article:
"China is now an important pillar of world stability, and we firmly support the one-China policy, and I will visit China in early 2024. ”
Before Slovakia, Hungary was the only EU close to China and Russia, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban often contradicted the EU.
Of course, Hungary's proximity to China immediately paid off economically – the "Land-Sea Express" from Greece to Budapest, and China also built Europe's largest automotive battery factory in Hungary, investing tens of billions of dollars to drive economic development.
Coincidentally, Slovakia's automobile industry is also very developed, and it has undertaken the German industry for more than ten years, and there are mature technologies, industrial workers, and supporting facilities in the local area. If Chinese automakers can invest in Slovakia in the future, it will be a huge benefit to the local community.
Fizo is clear: in the world, only China can truly challenge the hegemony of the United States.
At present, China's "One Belt, One Road" layout has basically taken shape, which has broken the continental hegemony of the United States economically. Militarily, the gap between China and the United States is also getting smaller and smaller, and the United States has no choice but to carry out global strategic contraction and focus on East Asian affairs.
Breaking the US monopoly is a good thing for the whole of Europe, but the EU is controlled by pro-American politicians, and the space for "turning around" is very narrow.
At present, Fizo and Hungary's Orban sympathize with each other, and as the two reach an agreement on diplomacy, the forces within the EU and NATO to support Russia and China are growing.
As long as Ukraine's path to joining the Western camp is stuck, and with the current attitude of Europe, Ukraine's aid is getting less and less, and the end of the war will not be too far away.
Once Europe is at peace, with Russia's cheap energy and China's help, and Western European countries are left alone, the development of Sri Lanka and Hungary will inevitably flourish, which is also the ultimate wish of Fizo and other leftists.
Literature / Shogakuno
Resources:
1. Research on the Development and Evolution of the Communist Successor Party in the Czech and Slovak Territories, Zhang Jie
2. "Slovak Prime Minister: China Deserves Respect, It Is a Stabilizing Factor for Global Security", Liu Chenghui