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After their PM halts Ukraine aid, Slovaks dig deep to help

6 hours ago
By Rob Cameron,
BBC News, Prague

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YAKIV LIASHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Ukrainian servicemen of 228 Separate
Battalion of the 127th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade shoot the anti-aircraft
artillery complex S-60 from their position on a frontline in Zaporizhzhia area,
Ukraine, 18 December 202YAKIV LIASHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
A crowdfunding campaign in Slovakia to buy artillery shells for Ukraine has
exceeded its target of €1m (£850,000), less than 48 hours after it was launched.

The campaign is a response to the Slovak cabinet's refusal to join an initiative by

the Czech government to buy up hundreds of thousands of shells for the Ukrainian
armed forces.

"We have to drive Putin out of Ukraine. We have to defeat him," said Otto Simko, a
Holocaust survivor and veteran of the 1944 Slovak National Uprising against the
Nazis. Aged 99, he helped kickstart the campaign to challenge the government's
policy.

"I lived through the Second World War. I fought in it. I can tell you there was no
point negotiating with Hitler and there is no point negotiating with Putin," Simko
told the BBC from Bratislava.

It was a random conversation the Slovak veteran had with a journalist and a
philosopher that led to the idea of crowdfunding Slovak help for Kyiv.

Post Bellum/Martin Šesták Otto ŠimkoPost Bellum/Martin Šesták

Otto Simko who's 99 has dipped into his pension to pay into the fund
1px transparent line
In essence it allows Slovaks to bypass the populist-nationalist government of
Robert Fico, who came to power in October pledging not to send "one more round of
ammunition" to Ukraine.

For months Ukrainian forces have struggled to defend their front lines from the
Russian advance because of a shortage of shells, rockets and air defences.

But Mr Fico has flatly refused to join about 20 countries that have signed up to
the Czech operation to procure large quantities of artillery ammunition on the
global arms market.

The Slovak prime minister says the West's policy of arming Ukraine is only
prolonging the conflict, and Kyiv should instead lay down its arms and sue for
peace with Moscow.

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The crowdfunding campaign has provided an outlet for those Slovaks who do not agree
with him. By Friday afternoon, more than 32,000 people had donated more than €2m
since it launched on Tuesday afternoon. The money will go directly to the Czech
government's initiative.

"We're really pleasantly surprised at the huge force it's awoken," said Zuzana
Izsakova from the "Peace to Ukraine" initiative, which is running the effort in
conjunction with the Czech-based Endowment Fund for Ukraine.

"It's a sign of the resistance of Slovak society against the government and the
foreign policy of Robert Fico," she told the BBC.

The campaign, running under the slogan "If The Government Won't - We Will", would
continue even now it had met its target, she said.

So far Mr Fico has not commented publicly on the campaign. However, Defence
Minister Robert Kalinak told the Markiza TV station that Slovakia was a democracy
and people were free to do what they wanted.

His government was working instead on providing Kyiv with assistance such as
demining equipment, he said.

Reuters Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico attends a European Union leaders
summit in Brussels, Belgium March 22, 2024Reuters
Robert Fico has halted Slovak military aid to Ukraine but insists he wants to be a
"good, friendly neighbour" to Ukraine
The Czech ammunition initiative sees Prague acting as a middleman, combining
extensive defence contacts dating back to the Cold War with money from EU and Nato
partners to procure ammunition for Ukraine's shell-starved artillery batteries.

The scheme has been lauded by allies including President Joe Biden, at a time when
Ukraine military aid has been mired for months in Congressional bickering and the
EU's own ammunition pledges have fallen far short.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on a visit to Washington this week his country
had so far signed contracts for 180,000 rounds and was securing the purchase of
300,000 more, following substantial pledges of money from Germany, the Netherlands,
Denmark and others.

The first shells would arrive in June, said Mr Fiala.

However, the project is shrouded in strategic ambiguity, and other Czech officials
have suggested tens of thousands have already arrived on the battlefield.

It is also unclear which countries are providing the shells, with unconfirmed
claims that some of them enjoy friendly relations with Moscow.

The Czech government says up to 1.5 million rounds could be available on the global
market if the funds can be secured.

Otto Simko said he had not hesitated to dip into his pension to help fund what he
said was Ukraine's battle against totalitarianism.

"Remember [Neville] Chamberlain. His idea that offering Hitler the Sudetenland
would bring peace - it turned out to be a complete illusion," he told the BBC.
"Our government is doing exactly the same. Give him the Donbas, just as long as
there is peace. Give him Crimea, just as long as there is peace. It's a complete
illusion," he went on.

"If we don't defeat Putin he will be a threat. Not for the two or three years that
I have left on this Earth, but to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to
Slovakia, and the whole world."

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