Slovakia wants to postpone voting on the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia - Fico
Kyiv • UNN
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced his intention to postpone the vote on the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia. Slovakia seeks an exemption that would allow it to fulfill its contract with Gazprom until 2034, rejecting the EC's proposal to stop Russian gas supplies from 2028.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Slovakia wants to postpone the vote on the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia, as he wrote on Tuesday on Facebook, UNN reports.
Details
Thus, Fico publicly responded to a previous Reuters report about the European Commission's proposal of certain commitments to the country amid attempts to break the deadlock on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia.
The representative of the Slovak Republic was instructed today to request a postponement of the vote on the 18th package of sanctions, taking into account the political situation in Slovakia
"The best solution in the current situation would be to grant Slovakia an exemption allowing it to fulfill its contract with Russian Gazprom until its expiration in 2034, which the European Commission currently fundamentally rejects, as the implementation of this proposal would undermine the essence of anti-Russian sanctions," the Slovak prime minister noted.
Fico added that the Slovak government coalition "rejects... the European Commission's proposal to stop Russian gas supplies from 2028." "However, it is ready to negotiate guarantees that will provide the Slovak Republic with certain comfort in gas supplies after 2028," Fico noted.
Addition
Slovakia is blocking the 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine until its concerns about a separate EU proposal to phase out Russian gas imports by January 1, 2028, are addressed.