Fico threatens to not support new sanctions on Russia – again

BRATISLAVA – Slovak PM Robert Fico wrote on Facebook that Slovakia will not support the 18th sanctions package against Russia unless the European Commission “offers a real solution to the crisis our country would face if supplies of gas, oil, and nuclear fuel from Russia were completely cut off”.

Fico has made similar threats in the past but has never actually voted against sanctions in Brussels.

The European Commission's latest package of sanctions on Russia wants to lower the cap on its seaborne crude oil price to $45 per barrel and target the use of the Nord Stream gas pipeline infrastructure, shadow fleet vessels, and banks.

The package is currently under negotiation by EU states and requires unanimous approval.

"Czechia, Austria, and Poland have all managed to wean themselves off Russian raw materials, while Robert Fico just waits for the European Commission to solve the problem for him – and then blackmails them by threatening to block new sanctions," said MEP Ľubica Karvašová of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS/RE). She added that none of the newly proposed sanctions would realistically endanger Slovakia.

Parliament passes symbolic resolution against sanctions

Last week, the Slovak parliament passed a resolution aimed at committing the government to vote against further sanctions on Russia. The motion passed with only 51 votes in the 150-member chamber, after the opposition’s attempt to block the vote failed.

Fico called the resolution "a strong political tool I can lean on”, however, he did not say he would abide by it.

Parliament urged him not to support any new sanctions, but Fico repeated that he would only block measures he believes "harm Slovakia" – a stance he has maintained all along.

As one example of a sanction he would veto, he cited a potential ban on Russian nuclear fuel imports.