BRATISLAVA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Thursday evening that Slovakia will stop blocking the approval of the 18th European Union sanctions package against the Russian Federation. In a video posted on his Facebook page, he said further opposition to the sanctions package would harm Slovakia's national interests.
Slovakia has so far delayed agreeing to the sanctions that the EU has prepared in response to Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine. Bratislava has conditioned its position on guarantees on another matter - namely, opposition to the European Commission's initiative to phase out Russian natural gas imports to EU member states.
Fico said in a statement that Slovakia had finally received the required guarantees and that "at this moment there are no longer any reasons to block the approval of new sanctions". However, the prime minister did not give details on the content of these guarantees.
At the same time, the prime minister sharply criticised the plan to stop importing Russian gas, calling it "imbecilic". "We consider this proposal to be technically and economically unrealistic and highly harmful for Slovakia," Fico said. He said the adoption of such a measure could threaten the country's energy security and the affordability of energy for households and businesses.
Fico also stressed that his government was launching "the next phase of the battle with the European Commission" over the gas transformation plans. "Slovakia will not stand silently by and watch steps that contradict its economic interests and common sense," he added.
The Slovak prime minister is thus trying to balance between loyalty to a unified European foreign policy and the desire to protect national energy interests. Slovakia is one of the most dependent countries on Russian gas imports, and any change in this direction has significant economic and domestic implications.
The European Commission has not yet commented on Fico's words. The adoption of the 18th package of sanctions against Russia is expected during Friday, if no other member state objects to it.
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