Government officials talk about the possible deployment of Slovak troops to Ukraine as a diversion from national interests, but opinions in the opposition differ. The Democrats are strongly in favour of a potential peacekeeping mission, while the PS also favours the idea. However, they stress that they do not support sending troops into combat.
Written by Natalia Silenská | EURACTIV.sk
When Emmanuel Macron first broached the subject of the possible deployment of European troops to Ukraine last February, he faced massive opposition. At the time, the French President did not rule out the possibility that they could be sent if Russia broke through the front line and Kiev asked for that form of assistance.
The explosive subject eventually faded into the background. It only returned in a new guise with the re-election of Donald Trump and the peace negotiations he has begun to conduct with Russia behind the backs of Ukraine and Europe.
This time, however, the question is: would the Europeans be willing to send troops to Ukraine to oversee a future peace there?
The first of the two meetings of European leaders in Paris in February remained without a declaration precisely because the participants could not find common ground on this question.
Macron, however, could breathe a sigh of relief this time, because he was no longer alone in his position. In addition to France, the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands, for example, have also taken a positive stance on the potential deployment of peacekeepers.
NATO's European members have thus begun to divide into three groups - those who think it is feasible to send troops, those who consider it a premature topic, and those who resolutely reject it.
The V4 countries belong largely to the last group. Yet, politicians do not have complete agreement on the issue, even in Slovakia.
What would be the importance of peacekeepers in Ukraine
As Matej Kandrík, a military analyst and director of the Adapt Institute think-tank, describes, sending European peacekeepers would follow the line of support the Union has been expressing to Ukraine for the last three years.
"Also, if we are serious about Ukraine's future membership in the EU, the path to it goes right through Ukraine coming out of the war. That is, through a Ukraine that is capable of embarking on a path of post-war reconstruction, repair, stabilisation, and hopefully, gradually, some prosperity," Kandrík explained to EURACTIV Slovakia.
Another argument for sending peacekeepers is the geopolitical security interests of Europeans themselves. Since the conflict is taking place on their territory, it is in their prime interest to have a seat at the negotiating table, but also to be part of some kind of solution.
This scenario is also supported by the fact that politicians are not currently presenting too many other alternatives for how the Ukrainians could deter the Russians from attacking again in the future.
Ukraine’s most preferred security guarantee is NATO membership. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has admitted that he would even be willing to resign if it would guarantee Ukraine an "invitation". However, this seems increasingly unlikely in the foreseeable future.
"Ukraine's membership in NATO is, let's face it, a rather unrealistic scenario today," says Kandrík.
Its entry into the Alliance, which is enshrined directly in its constitution, would have to be approved by all of its existing members. However, several of them, including Slovakia, Hungary, and the United States, are strongly opposed. Trump stressed in late February that Ukraine "can forget about joining NATO".
The other currently known alternatives are thus more related to the concrete form a peacekeeping mission would take - for example, in what composition or under whose command it would be deployed.
"The fact that European troops will be sent to Ukraine does not necessarily mean that it will be a European Union-led mission," the military analyst explains. "There may also be a formula in which forces are supplied by EU member states, but the presence itself will not be under the EU's umbrella."
The presence of non-European forces could also be in play, in a model similar to that seen in UN missions. According to the Slovak expert, these are open questions that can be speculated about, but "nothing concrete is on the table yet from political leaders in Europe."
The Slovak government is firmly against
The passions that the subject of European peacekeepers arouses, however, come from critics who reject this scenario. These are also communicated by the government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI), which unequivocally rejects the deployment of Slovak troops.
While most politicians during the first extraordinary meeting in Paris addressed the issue of which countries were absent from the negotiating table, Prime Minister Fico, in his statement, mainly criticised the fact that the topic of sending peacekeepers was addressed at all.
Fico argued that the EU had "nothing to do" with this agenda. He was therefore particularly critical of the participation of the EU's top representatives at the meeting.
"The EU does not have the authority to take decisions on the presence of foreign troops on the territory of another state. This is possible only on the basis of a decision taken in the relevant UN bodies or on the basis of bilateral agreements of Ukraine with individual states willing to send troops to its territory," the prime minister said in a statement to the media.
At the same time, he reiterated that he would never agree to Ukraine's membership of NATO and that "Slovakia will not send any armed forces to the territory of Ukraine".
President Peter Pellegrini, who was previously a direct part of Fico's government as leader of the coalition party Hlas-SD (NI), also expressed his opposition to the possible deployment of peacekeepers.
"If we were invited to a meeting of countries that are willing to send their (peacekeeping) troops to Ukraine, (...) Slovakia probably has no such interest," Pellegrini said during NATO chief Mark Rutte's visit to Slovakia.
Both Fico and Pellegrini have often used this topic in political fights. Pellegrini's presidential campaign misleadingly portrayed his opponent Ivan Korčok (PS/RE) as a "war president" who would send Slovak men to Ukraine.
Fico, for his part, reached for this narrative, for example, when opposition leader Michal Šimečka (PS/RE) and his fellow party members visited Kiev in January.
"President Zelenskyy was promised support for Ukraine's NATO membership and the presence of Slovak troops on Ukrainian territory if they seized government power," Fico claimed without evidence, adding that "both are in stark contradiction to Slovakia's national interests."
According to military analyst Kandrík, the question on the table is how those who have long criticised military aid to Ukraine and called for peace actually want to contribute to its establishment.
"A contribution in the form of a military contingent - peacekeepers - is being offered. If they refuse this, it creates doubt as to how serious they are about their long-standing statements about the need for peace and negotiations," he told EURACTIV Slovakia.
The pro-European opposition is divided in its views
However, the rejection of sending troops is not shared by the entire Slovak political scene. One of the biggest supporters of the idea has been the extra-parliamentary Democrats party. Its leader Jaroslav Naď, who served as defence minister between 2020 and 2023, would be "unequivocally" in favour.
"Just as today we have our soldiers guarding the peace in Cyprus, Kosovo or elsewhere, we would also have our soldiers in a neighbouring country where they would be there to keep the peace," Naď said in a podcast for Denník N.
At the same time, he stressed that the soldiers would not actually fight there: "They would just be guarding that the Russians don't invade Ukraine again. And that's what it's all about. And, of course, in that case, we should approach it responsibly as a responsible EU member and neighbour of the invaded Ukraine."
The strongest opposition party, Progressive Slovakia (PS/RE), also gave a positive response to EURACTIV Slovakia, while stressing that it would be "against sending Slovak soldiers into combat actions".
"Lasting peace in Ukraine will only be possible with clear security guarantees from the West," responded PS MEP Lucia Yar. "However, it is important to say that there is no way we in the EU are talking about soldiers being sent into combat."
"We are in favour of a peace which, when it can be made, will naturally also need to be guaranteed. It is in Slovakia's interest that it should be guaranteed jointly by the US and Europe," she added.
The Christian Democratic Movement (KDH/EPP) does not yet consider the topic relevant. The most important issue now is how to achieve "a lasting and just peace and finally stop Russia's terrible attacks on Ukraine."
"Europe recognises that it is crucial to focus on strengthening its defences so that it can be a guarantor of peace on the continent. Thus, any agreements or decisions on troop deployments are not yet the topic of the day at all," the press office told EURACTIV Slovakia.
"Moreover, each country will have the opportunity to comment on the plan, as we have already seen in the case of France or the UK (...). On the other hand, however, we have already heard rejections from Germany, Spain and Italy. So there will be no decision on our soldiers without our consent," the movement added in a statement.
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