A senior member of Slovakia’s ruling Smer party has drawn parallels between Ukraine and Hamas during a heated television discussion.
Tibor Gašpar, deputy head of Smer and a parliament member, made the comparison while defending Prime Minister Robert Fico’s position on the Russo-Ukrainian war during a debate with opposition leader Michal Šimečka of Progressive Slovakia.
According to the Slovak publication Aktuality.sk., Fico has previously stated that Russia’s full-scale invasion violates international law, but recently suggested Moscow had justifications for its actions. Gašpar elaborated on this stance during the program.
“Robert Fico […] considers the start of the war in Ukraine a violation of international law, but he also said, unlike Mr. Šimečka, who in his previous statement said this was unjustified aggression, I believe quite the opposite. This is provoked aggression,” Gašpar stated.
The deputy emphasized that Fico has long characterized the conflict as “provoked,” not merely in recent statements. Gašpar then drew his controversial comparison to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
“This is the same kind of provoked conflict as when terrorists from Palestine attacked Israel. The war developed in absolutely the same way,” he declared during the broadcast.
Opposition politician Šimečka immediately challenged this characterization, questioning whether Gašpar was seriously suggesting that “Ukrainians broke into Russia and killed a thousand civilians,” referencing the casualties from the Hamas attack.
Around 150 pro-Palestinian activists have broken into a storage facility and damaged military equipment intended for Ukraine, the Belgian news outlet 7sur7 reported on June 26.
The facility belongs to OIP Land Systems, a company that produces military equipment for Ukraine. The activists reportedly thought the equipment would be supplied to Israel.
The activists, who were wearing white overalls and masks, took part in the Stop Arming Israel campaign. The protests seek to pressure Belgian authorities to maintain the military embargo against Israel and impose sanctions on it.
The protesters, armed with hammers and grinders, first entered the company's offices, where they smashed computers, and then broke into the hangars, where they severely damaged some vehicles, Freddy Versluys, CEO of OIP Land Systems, said.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the company has supplied the Ukrainian army with about 260 armored vehicles. The damage caused by the activists' actions is estimated at $1.1 million, according to 7sur7.
"A further delivery has now been delayed by at least a month. That's all these Hamas sympathizers will have achieved with their action," Versluys said.
The company was reportedly targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters because Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company, owns it.
Protesters believe that Elbit supplies 85% of the drones and most of the ground military equipment used by the Israel Defense Forces, 7sur7 reported.
Yet, the OIP Land Systems CEO claimed that his company has not produced defense systems for Israel for over 20 years.
OIP Land Systems has provided defense products to Ukraine on several occasions, including Leopard 1 tanks, which are manufactured at the Tournai plant.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova
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