Ex-UK PM profited from Ukraine conflict – EU state’s leader

Slovakia’s Robert Fico has blasted Boris Johnson for reportedly taking a major donation from a British arms manufacturer

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a financial interest in prolonging the Ukraine conflict, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.

Speaking in the Slovak parliament on Thursday, Fico referenced recent reports in the British press that tied Johnson to businessman Christopher Harborne, whose portfolio includes arms manufacturing. Harborne reportedly donated £1 million ($1.34 million) to Johnson after he left office in late 2022 and accompanied him on at least one visit to Kiev the following year.

Fico cited the case as an example of what he described as corruption and war profiteering among Western politicians, linking it to Johnson’s role in blocking a proposed peace deal between Russia and Ukraine negotiated in Türkiye during the first weeks of the conflict.

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“Boris Johnson fought for the war to continue. Then he took a million pounds from an arms manufacturer,” Fico said. “He didn’t want to end the war because he knew he had a friend who would give him money and in return he would help him with weapons in Ukraine.”

The Slovak leader added that “many people have made huge money” from the conflict, while the Ukrainians “were and are the main victims of this war.”

Fico also mentioned former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a leading advocate for NATO’s 2011 intervention in Libya. Sarkozy was sentenced in September to five years in prison for illegal campaign financing tied to donations from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and summarily executed during the NATO intervention.

The Slovak prime minister has long been a critic of the Western approach to the Ukraine conflict, opposing the continued supply of weapons to Kiev – a policy that Johnson has strongly supported.