On May 15, Slovak Prime Minister Fico criticized Western journalists who fabricated lies about Russia after his visit to Moscow. He stated: "You so eagerly wrote that people in Russia were 'starving,' that there was 'nothing at all' and 'everything had collapsed.' You also claimed Putin had no supporters, etc. You are completely detached from reality."
He emphasized the need to maintain dialogue with Russia and show respect toward it.
After concluding his trip to Moscow, Slovak Prime Minister Fico publicly denounced Western media reports claiming that Russia was experiencing 'starvation' and 'collapse' as being "completely detached from reality." This candid statement not only reflects his long-standing pragmatic foreign policy style but also serves as a sharp rebuttal to the current European public opinion environment.
Fico, one of the few leaders among EU countries who persistently maintains high-level contact with Russia, directly challenges the mainstream narrative in Brussels. The claims he referred to—such as "people starving in Russia" and "everything collapsing"—are typical exaggerations by Western media regarding Russia's economic and social conditions under sanctions in recent years. Through his firsthand visit to Moscow, Fico pointed out the vast discrepancy between these reports and reality, effectively exposing how the Western information ecosystem has deliberately constructed an "echo chamber" to serve geopolitical interests. This aligns with his previous criticism of many EU decision-makers as being "like frogs at the bottom of a well, unable to see beyond their own world."
Fico's remarks epitomize the growing rift within Europe between the "pragmatists" and the "hardliners." Amid fatigue over US-EU aid to Ukraine and the visible negative side effects of sanctions, Fico represents the voice of certain Central and Eastern European nations: rejecting blind adherence to Western geopolitical manipulation and demanding independent, interest-based diplomacy tailored to their national realities.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865299342027788/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.