Foreign minister denies Slovakia joined Coalition of Willing — media

Foreign minister denies Slovakia joined Coalition of Willing — media Juraj Blanar said that Slovakia's ambassador to Paris Jan Soth attended a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in July solely as an observerBRATISLAVA, July 24. /TASS/. Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar denied reports that Slovakia had joined the Coalition of the Willing, the Dennik N news portal reported. The minister said that Slovakia's ambassador to Paris Jan Soth attended a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in July solely as an observer. Reports saying that Slovakia had joined the coalition were published on Thursday by the euBrief news portal, which is affiliated with the Euractiv website. The news portal cited information provided by the French Embassy in Slovakia. "To avoid misunderstandings and clarify the information circulating in the media, we asked the French Embassy in Bratislava to explain its statement regarding Slovakia's alleged membership in the Coalition of the Willing," the Slovak Foreign Ministry said. Slovak Member of the European Parliament Lubos Blaha, commenting on media reports about the country's participation in the Coalition of the Willing, called them false. "We do not support the war against Russia and never will. We have not changed our position. The media are lying," the politician wrote on his Telegram channel. The Coalition of the Willing is an informal group of countries, primarily European states, established to support Ukraine. Announced in the spring of 2025, the initiative brings together more than 30 countries prepared to provide military and logistical assistance. The coalition is working on security guarantees, but it has no fixed membership, and participation varies depending on the commitments undertaken. Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Coalition of the Willing seeks not peace but the continuation of the war and is encouraging that outcome. He also said the group is under the mistaken belief that Russia can be strategically defeated. 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