Soviet-bloc fatigue

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the Central and Eastern European nations have been under immense pressure from NATO to aid Ukraine, despite the economic implications that have followed. While Hungary has resisted NATO's pressure, other nations like Slovakia and the Czech Republic were expected to provide both money and military aid to Ukraine, regardless of the toll on their economies. Most recently, Slovakia's election of Robert Fico as the country's prime minister saw the former Soviet-bloc nation, once part of Czechoslovakia, move away from this carte blanche Ukraine policy. The MO's Manila Chan discusses Slovakia and the growing anti-war trend in Europe with geopolitical analyst George Szamuely.