France Leaves Slovakia Off Ukraine Call Amid Increasing EU Isolation

Slovakia's Denník N reporting that according to its sources, both Slovakia and Hungary were deliberately excluded from a video call of EU foreign affairs and defence ministers organised on 7 March by the French gov't to discuss support for Ukraine. The report claims that, "The French have learned their lesson," says the source of Denník N in connection with the non-participation of Slovak representatives. The fact that Slovakia did not receive an invitation was confirmed to Denník N by two independent sources."

• The apparent exclusion of Slovakia and Hungary comes after the gov't of Czechia announced that it would be halting its regular governmental consultations with their Slovak counterparts. This is due to Bratislava's stance on the war in Ukraine, which counters that of Czechia and much of the rest of the EU in being seen as more supportive of Moscow's viewpoint than Kyiv's.
• Indeed, the 2 March meeting between Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an event in Turkey went down particularly poorly with other EU members.
• Should PM Robert Fico maintain his anti-Ukraine aid stance, Slovakia risks the same regional isolation that Hungary has experienced in recent years. This comes with a higher risk of EU investigations into rule of law issues, which in turn risks withholding of important EU cohesion funding (Slovakia is a net recipient of EU funds).