“Ukraine is part of Eastern Europe. She has nothing to do with us.”

WORLD “Ukraine is part of Eastern Europe. She has nothing to do with us.” Article by Tonia Mastrobuoni • 6 hours Former Slovakian deputy prime minister and former interior minister Robert Kalinak is part of Robert Fico's inner circle, who is expected to form the next government after Saturday's election victory. In the interview he explains why she is against weapons for Ukraine and its accession to NATO. Robert Kalinak (52) has been Robert Fico's deputy prime minister and interior minister of Slovakia in three governments since 2006 The former Slovakian Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak is one of the closest confidants of the multiple head of government and current election winner Robert Fico. When journalist Jan Kuciak was murdered in February 2018 after reporting on possible ties between the Fico government and the Italian mafia, Kalinak was interior minister. Under pressure from the protests that followed, he resigned from office and was later brought to trial. Kuciak has been an editor in the investigative team of the news portal “aktuality.sk” since 2015, which was part of a joint venture between Axel Springer SE (WELT, “Bild”) and the Swiss Ringier AG that will run until 2021. Part of the corruption charges against Kalinak were recently dropped due to legal formalities. During the recent election campaign, during a rally, he bashed a political rival who had shouted: “We will not leave the country to the mafiosi!” Fico's left-wing populist party Smer-SSD won the parliamentary election on Saturday with 22.9 percent of the vote. Second place was taken by the liberal party Progressive Slovakia (PS), which was not previously represented in parliament and led by EU MP Michal Simecka, with 18 percent. WORLD: Mr. Kalinak, will you turn your back on Europe? Robert Kalinak: We made ourselves very clear on this: no anti-Europeanism. Maybe you remember what Giorgia Meloni said about Europe during her election campaign. And what happened after that? WORLD: So you want to proceed like Meloni: not keep your lofty election promises, but act pragmatically? Kalinak: No, not pragmatically, that is not the crucial point. Look, we are not pro-Russian, but pro-Slovak. Although we will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine, we will continue to support them with humanitarian aid. WORLD: Will you continue to support Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU? Kalinak: These are two completely different things. We would be very happy if Ukraine joined the EU. But not in NATO, that's a question of security. I lived in Ukraine for two years, it is part of Eastern Europe. It has nothing to do with us, it has always been our border to the east. And it would be dangerous to admit them into NATO. We are against it. WORLD: Putin is actually also threatening Europe. Kalinak: Yes, of course. However, I believe that this is also a question of dialogue and rapprochement. We must try to achieve peace in Ukraine. And that is doable. We have always had extremely complicated relations with Hungary. But now our relationships are the best they have been in 1,000 years. WORLD: Robert Fico has already stated that he will take revenge on the prosecutors who investigated you. Should we expect an authoritarian turn and attacks on judges like in Hungary and Poland? Kalinak: Fico didn't say he would take revenge on the judges. He has stated that those who investigated him are not neutral but rather politicized judges. We have never violated democratic rules during our twelve years in government.