Zelenskiy Snubs Slovak Pro-Russian PM by Meeting Opposition
- Fico declines invitation to Kyiv; Simecka comes instead
- Slovak opposition leader uses meeting to criticize Fico
Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Michal Simecka in Kyiv on Jan. 17.
Photographer: Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP/Getty ImagesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hosted an increasingly popular Slovak opposition leader as Kyiv remains locked in a spat with the country’s premier over gas transit.
Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka, whose party recently surpassed that of Prime Minister Robert Fico in opinion polls, voiced support for Ukraine’s European Union membership, which he said was “crucial” to Slovakia’s interests.