“There is no EU legislation or system of sanctions that would hinder Ukraine from continuing the gas transit,” Fico said. “We can’t ignore this topic because everyone knows ignoring it means escalating tensions in the EU and in bilateral relations.”
According to the Commission, the end of the flow of Russian gas has not created shortages or major price spikes.
However, Fico’s government insists it will miss out on as much as €500 million in transit fees it previously earned by pumping the gas to neighboring countries like Czechia and Hungary. “You might say it’s not much, but Slovakia is a small country,” he said, “and we are forced to consolidate public money.”
Fico had previously vowed to cut off much-needed exports of electricity to Ukraine, which is facing a power crisis as a result of heavy bombardment of its national grid by Russian rockets and drones. He has also floated stripping support from Ukrainian refugees in retribution for the cutoff.
At the same time, Fico’s Smer party and Viktor Orbán’s government have threatened to block Ukraine’s proposed EU accession over the standoff.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in December he wouldn’t allow Russia “to earn additional billions on our blood” with its gas exports. “And any country in the world that can get something cheap from Russia will eventually become dependent on Russia.”
In a statement shared with POLITICO following the meeting, Jørgensen said Slovakia and the Commission would “continue discussing closely these issues, at both political and technical level.”
To do that, “we have agreed to set up a High Level Working Group to follow up and identify options based on a joint assessment of the situation and see how the EU can help,” he added.
