12:45 12.12.2022

Slovak Foreign Minister: Peace will be in Ukraine and we will be with you until it happens

8 min read
Slovak Foreign Minister: Peace will be in Ukraine and we will be with you until it happens

Exclusive interview of the Foreign Minister of the Slovak Republic Rastislav Káčer for the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency in Kyiv

Authors: Valerie Proschenko,  Oleksandr Martynenko

 

According to the UN, more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees are in Slovakia. What kind of support does Slovakia provide Ukrainian refugees?

The truth is that through Slovakia, through our border, we have registered around 1 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing from Ukraine so far. And for the protection status, for residential status, about 100,000 people filed that kind of request, so your numbers are correct. We've been assisting those who are not staying and who are in transit. And we also offer support to those who want to stay in Slovakia.

If you are awarded the status of a refugee in Slovakia, then you are entitled to a full-fledged status like any other Slovak citizen. So you are entitled to medical care and social support, you can apply for a job, and you can get your kids to school or kindergarten. You can work in Slovakia like an ordinary Slovak citizen - you are given full rights.

And I know already that my wife, my partner, she's leading an Intensive care unit (ICU) at the university hospital. She's already got new doctors from Ukraine with the status and a couple of nurses. I see in our surroundings, in my vicinity, many Ukrainians started to work, finding new life. But I know that most of them, if not all of them, still want to return home. We are ready to support them and help them to be supported. So, they not only stay in the country, but they have a fulfilling life on which they can earn their own living and have future progress.

 

This winter will be tough for Ukraine because Russia now systematically attacks civilian infrastructure. How many more Ukrainian refugees can your country accept if needed?

We met at the governmental level about two weeks ago and approved the new strategy. If winter and further attacks on infrastructure lead to more migration, we are ready to accept more migrants or refugees. It's not migrants but refugees from Ukraine. And give them that support. But also, what I find very important is that we want to work with your government to identify how we can help with resettlement inside Ukraine because we are obliged to find ways to support you here. Because in this case, people don't have to go through traumatizing changes: learning new languages, moving to another country.

We still think that the best is if you can find safe places with support, with humanitarian assistance, you know, offering generators, warm clothing, heat machines, etc. So, for those who are coming from Eastern to Western Ukraine, we will have the capacity to provide help. And we'll help Ukrainians who wish to move to Slovakia because they will prefer it. We are ready to accept more refugees as we've done. So, when we have a strategy, we are prepared for that.

 

What is the position of the Visegrad Four countries regarding assistance to Ukraine within the organization's framework?

You know, we try to support Ukraine in every multilateral forum. You get our support in EU discussions, and we were one of those who were strongly advocating for Ukraine's candidacy and membership status. We also support you very much with your ambition to join NATO. In fora like United Nations and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, we've always been one of the strongest supporters of peace in Ukraine and your right to self-defense.

The Visegrad Group is an informal organization. We do work with you bilaterally. Poland is a strong supporter, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Hungary has some reservations about supporting Ukraine, and we talk to them about this. They have their ways how to do it.

We approved on Tuesday at our Visegrad 4 meeting that part of the Visegrad Fund, a little financial fund where we now have a small amount of money, a little less than half a million euros, will be dedicated to Ukrainian projects. Projects will be open in Ukraine to support humanitarian assistance, civic society, journalists, and whatever they need. So, even within the Visegrad Fund, we earmarked about half a million euros for the project with Ukraine.

And I think everything is going well because this was not an easy fight with the status of Ukraine for the EU, and I think we won that battle. You were recognized as a future member. And you will start with the process. That process is a lengthy procedure for Slovakia to begin to get the membership. It was in 2004. From 1993 to 2004, it was quite a lengthy task. And we were not in the war. So it takes some time.

I want you to be optimistic. I want to say the process is very important. Because becoming the EU member, I mean, if it happens overnight, it can kill the country, frankly. The country truly needs to be administratively ready for its multiple legal adjustments. There are a lot of reforms you have to go through. And it's all worth it. It took 12 years for us.

 

And what about NATO?

And for NATO. I can tell you because I was with Slovak's NATO enlargement process from the beginning until the end. I was the one who wrote Partnership for Peace (PfP) presentation document. And from that until I was with my Prime Minister handing over the protocol of accession to NATO, it was 11 years of my life. And again, we were not in the war.

So, you should understand that these processes are long, but the process, if you are part of it, it already has excellent sights because it's truly changing your country. And it's changing your country for good. I'm very optimistic because we recognized that Ukraine would become a NATO member. And we give you the status of a future EU member, and now we start to work on that. So, I'm very optimistic. You know, it took us 11 and 12 years. And those 11 and 12 years were good because they helped us to change the country where we needed it.

And this is what I said at NATO Summit in Bucharest. We will work with Ukraine on its paths toward NATO. The war will finish, and the country will be prepared for membership. As I said here, it's important to be at the table. Because if you are not at the table, you risk being on the menu, and we don't want you to be on the menu. We want you to be with us at the table.

 

But first of all, we need peace. Will Slovakia continue to participate in military assistance to Ukraine?

Yes, that is important. And we work on that very, very much with you. We support Ukraine politically. As I stressed to President Zelensky at our meeting, whatever the platform, we always raise our voices and say: Don't abandon Ukraine. What Russia is doing is unacceptable. So we approve all sanctions, and we push for further sanctions. We supply more defense equipment.

Yesterday my government approved a new package. I think it's ninth, so whatever 10s package, worth 11, almost 11 million euros, including ammunition, a couple of 1000s of missiles for MIG 29, warm clothing for your soldiers, food supplies for your soldiers, and many other things. And we will continue doing. On Monday, we will open a reparation plant where damaged Military equipment will be repaired, and it will be returned to Ukraine.

You know, peace will be here, and we will be with you until that happens, we will be with you until the end.

 

And the last question. I want to ask about MIG-29s. You have just mentioned these jets. Have you already handed them over?

We still have not handed MIG-29s to you. We are ready to do it. We talk to our partners in NATO about how to do it. And today, we had a very substantial discussion with your president. My defense minister explained to your president how we could do it. And I suppose, in the following weeks, your delegation will be coming to Slovakia, and we will work jointly with our American friends to make it a reality.

By yesterday we approved a couple of 1000s of missiles used for MIG 29. So, you can equip your existing MIG-29s with missiles that will come from Slovakia to you. But we also discussed with President Zelensky quite in detail. And I think I need to keep some secrecy about how this will be done, not to threaten it. But today, we had a very, very good exchange with President Zelensky about how we will do it. So I'm very optimistic that also will be made soon, will be coming to Ukraine.

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