Election24: Nahlik: Slovakia Doesn't Need NATO, It's Other Way Around

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Slovakia doesn't need NATO, rather NATO needs Slovakia, while the European Union isn't an alliance of equal and sovereign states, but a dungeon of nations, presidential candidate Milan Nahlik has opined in an interview for TASR. In his opinion, foreign policy and the ratification of international treaties are among the president's most important powers, but each one of them is important. This interview with Nahlik forms part of a series of interviews with candidates for the post of Slovak president. -What do you view as the most important role of the Slovak president?- To run the office of the president in such a manner that the Slovak public feels that it has as president a statesman who will stand on its side. Not on the side of any political camps promoting their political and power goals, but on the side of the people. -Which power of the president do you find to be the most important, and without which power could you imagine operating in the presidential post, or which one do you not plan to use?- I consider foreign policy and the ratification of international treaties to be among the most important powers. However, each power is important because its value is crucial precisely at the time when it needs to be exercised. -Some political parties have spoken about the need for a change in the electoral system? Is this change needed? Would you sign off a change in the electoral system?- Yes, I have no problem with that, I would sign such a bill if there were changes that would be beneficial under the new electoral system. And personally, I can also imagine allowing candidates who wouldn't be on the slate of any political party, but would vie for election as independent civil candidates, to run in general elections. -What is your attitude towards Slovakia's membership of NATO and the EU? We've been members of these organisations for 20 years.- Slovakia doesn't need NATO, it's the other way around. NATO needs Slovakia for several reasons. The main one is that NATO is waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and every member state is important to NATO in this regard. However, this war of NATO versus Russia will, at the end of the day, have a devastating result for Slovakia, both in physical and economic terms. The only salvation for Slovakia is to become a neutral state, meaning a state that is not militarily involved, and so it would be most beneficial for Slovakia to withdraw from NATO. As far as the EU is concerned, it's important to realise that this isn't at all a partnership of equal and sovereign states as the original idea of this partnership was. What we're witnessing today is that the EU has turned into a global political organisation that dictates to individual states what they can and cannot do. A textbook example of the principles on which the EU operates today is the case of Hungary, which has decided to express its opinion on Ukraine and to say no to a package of €50 billion for Ukraine. Immediately, pressure was put on Hungary via European elites to achieve their objectives, literally via mafia-like practices, with Hungary being threatened with an attack on the Hungarian currency, the destruction of its economy, departure of investors and so on. This example shows nicely that the imaginary equality in the EU is only valid as long as one agrees with everything they are told to do. Such practices have nothing to do with any principles of democracy, and the EU today is a dungeon of nations, unfreedom is the most apt word to describe it. And I'd be determined to oppose this dictation as president. -The president of the Slovak Republic also holds the post of commander of the armed forces. What is your stance on financing the army, its modernisation and strengthening, also in view of what's happening east of Slovakia's borders?- The Slovak army has its roles and justification within the structures of the state. Today, we're members of NATO and, given this, certain obligations and duties arise for our army. However, I can imagine that our army wouldn't be a member of the Alliance and that it would still be able to fulfil all tasks in terms of the protection of the state, both externally and internally. -What is your opinion of aid to Ukraine? Do you support Ukraine's membership of the EU?- Ukraine today is among the 50 poorest countries in the world, it has one of the highest levels of corruption in the world, and it has a very low level of democracy. This cocktail of facts is completely incompatible with any idea, even the most optimistic ones, that Ukraine could be a member of the EU. To help Ukraine financially and militarily today is only to prolong a military conflict that will have fatal consequences for Slovakia as well. The only way to help Ukraine is to get peace talks between Ukraine and Russia started immediately. -Should the president be a counterbalance to the government? Why?- The president must first and foremost stand on the side of the public, the people from whom he or she has received the mandate, and should be a counterbalance to the government concerning how the government treats the public. If the government submits laws that aren't beneficial to society, the president should be an effective counterbalance in such a case and should use his or her powers to the extent possible to protect society from harmful legislation that such a government would intend to push through. A total of 11 candidates are running for the presidential post in this year's election. They are: Andrej Danko, Patrik Dubovsky, Krisztian Forro, Stefan Harabin, Ivan Korcok, Marian Kotleba, Jan Kubis, Igor Matovic, Milan Nahlik, Peter Pellegrini and Robert Svec. NOTE: TASR has asked all 11 presidential candidates for interviews. zel/mcs/mf