Most EU leaders backed Zelensky's victory plan. Fico speaks out strongly on migration at Brussels summit

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Denisa Saková flew to Brussels together with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister did not attend Wednesday's summit of the European Union and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in Brussels.

Fico: Migration needs a tough solution

The Prime Minister said in Brussels that migration in the European Union needs decisive and tough solutions.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Wednesday that the Czech Republic and a number of EU member states would meet at the European Council in an attempt to persuade other member states and also the European Commission to take a more forceful stance on the issue.

According to Fico's Facebook status, this informal meeting took place right at the beginning of the summit, also with the participation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Austria and Slovakia.

"It has come down to our words that migration needs decisive and tough solutions. We were proved right when we criticised and voted against mandatory migration quotas. I still say it, we need to clearly protect the external borders of Schengen and focus on the countries of origin of migration," the prime minister said.

He specified that Slovakia is among those EU member states that contribute to the search for a solution and expressed satisfaction that the European Commission has finally understood the urgency of the situation.

Leaders like Zelensky's plan

Ukraine sees NATO membership as a security umbrella, as a step that will strengthen the country and give it confidence that its territorial integrity will not be threatened again. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference.

According to Zelensky, the majority of EU prime ministers at Thursday's summit supported the so-called victory plan for Ukraine. The plan was endorsed by 18 members of the European Council and the majority of speakers expressed full support for it, the president said in Brussels.

Orbán was scared

Ahead of Thursday's summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sharply criticised the Zelensky plan. In a status posted on Facebook, he described it as "more than frightening".

"What he outlined yesterday in the Ukrainian parliament is more than frightening. I am one of those who urge the European Union to change its current strategy. The Union entered this war with a poorly organised, poorly executed and poorly calculated strategy, for which the President of the European Commission (Ursula von der Leyen) is primarily responsible. We are losing this war, so the strategy is not working. It needs to be changed!" he wrote.

Orbán added that this does not mean that more dangerous weapons and long-range missiles are needed, but that instead of a war strategy, we need to switch to a peace strategy.

"We need a ceasefire and peace talks! Today I will also urge the German Chancellor and the French President to start negotiations with the Russians as soon as possible on behalf of the whole of the European Union in order to find a way out of this situation," the Hungarian Prime Minister concluded.

Zelensky's plan, which he also presented in Brussels, aims to strengthen Ukraine's position sufficiently to end the war with Russia. If the plan is implemented now, he said, the end of the war could be achieved by next year at the latest. One of the points of the plan is an invitation to join NATO.

Watch the live feed of Andrea Simančíková from Brussels.