Firstly Fico risks isolating Slovakia now that he doesn’t have Hungary as an ally to protect him from any disciplinary actions from the EU.
Secondly, the EU has developed a bilateral loan system from individual member states that doesn’t require a unanimous EU vote.
Thirdly, there’s also a “enhanced cooperation” system now that allows groups of countries to proceed without unanimity.
Fico is going to have to balance the benefits he gets from doing Putin’s bidding with the blowback he is going to get and the consequences that will generate for Slovakia.
It is also politically much more hazardous to be the only one standing against some very strong will of the entire rest of the EU. If there are two in opposition it is already considerably less hazardous. Add to that, that Fico is in a domestically very difficult situation, he can afford taking much less heat than Orban did until his massive electoral defeat. On top of that, Fico is corrupt and bought by Russia but he is more pragmatic than Orban. That also shows his track record. He might make some fuss but is not ready to take all the flak for it by standing his ground indefinitely.
It’s not that simple for Slovakia…
Firstly Fico risks isolating Slovakia now that he doesn’t have Hungary as an ally to protect him from any disciplinary actions from the EU.
Secondly, the EU has developed a bilateral loan system from individual member states that doesn’t require a unanimous EU vote.
Thirdly, there’s also a “enhanced cooperation” system now that allows groups of countries to proceed without unanimity.
Fico is going to have to balance the benefits he gets from doing Putin’s bidding with the blowback he is going to get and the consequences that will generate for Slovakia.
Maybe I’m missing something, but that was true for Hungary too?
Hungary and Slovakia used to cover for each other. That doesn’t work without one of them.
It is also politically much more hazardous to be the only one standing against some very strong will of the entire rest of the EU. If there are two in opposition it is already considerably less hazardous. Add to that, that Fico is in a domestically very difficult situation, he can afford taking much less heat than Orban did until his massive electoral defeat. On top of that, Fico is corrupt and bought by Russia but he is more pragmatic than Orban. That also shows his track record. He might make some fuss but is not ready to take all the flak for it by standing his ground indefinitely.