PRAGUE (Reuters) -Slovakia aims to reach an agreement with the European Commission and EU partners by Tuesday on guarantees it will not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies and on a new sanctions package against Russia, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday.
Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s 18th sanctions package over its disagreement with a separate Commission proposal to end all imports of Russian gas from 2028, which Slovakia argues could cause shortages, a rise in prices and transit fees, and lead to damage claims from Russian supplier Gazprom.
“We need to win something in this fight, though it will not be a 100-0 result,” Fico said. “We want political commitments, guarantees from partners and the Commission that this problem will not remain only on Slovakia’s back.”
Fico said it was not clear at this point if a deal would be reached as some issues were still outstanding.
Fico said one topic under discussion was capping the transit fees that Slovakia would have to pay for alternative routes for non-Russian gas.
Slovakia gets the majority of its gas from Gazprom under a long-term deal valid until 2034 for about 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
Since Ukraine stopped Russian gas from transiting through its pipelines at the end of 2024, Slovakia has taken some gas through the Turkstream pipeline and Hungary.
The Commission’s proposal to end Russian energy imports from 2028 requires the backing of the majority of EU states, but not unanimity.
However, sanctions against Russia need unanimity, therefore Slovakia merged the two issues and has refused to back the sanctions package until its concerns over energy are satisfied.
The European Commission on June 10 proposed a new round of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, targeting Moscow’s energy revenues, banks and military industry.
The sanctions package — which in itself is not a problem for Slovakia, Fico said — could be approved by the EU’s foreign ministers on Tuesday if Slovakia lifts its opposition.
Fico said he discussed Slovakia’s concerns with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Saturday, but did not give details.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
