Slovakia demands access to Russian gas in exchange for sanctions vote

“The governing coalition rejects the idiotic proposal from the European Commission to stop Russian gas flows from 2028,” says Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico bluntly on a post on social media X.

The Slovakian head of government makes no secret of his opposition to the EU Commission’s proposal to say goodbye to Russian gas for good from 2028.

However, Slovakia does not have the power to stop the proposal, which can be adopted by a qualified majority.

Slovakia has therefore decided instead to put the EU’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia on hold for the time being. This package must be adopted unanimously. This gives Slovakia a de facto veto.

And Fico used this on Tuesday to once again put the brakes on the sanctions package. The aim is to force a difficult concession from the European Commission:

“The best solution to the situation would be to grant Slovakia an exemption so that it can fulfill its contract with Russia’s Gazprom until it expires in 2034.”

“Something that the EU Commission currently rejects on principle, arguing that approval of such a proposal would undermine the essence of the anti-Russian sanctions,” Fico writes in his post on X.

However, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen sees a farewell to Russian fossil fuels as one of the most important measures in the attempt to stop Putin’s war in Ukraine.

It will therefore be difficult for the European Commission to grant exemptions to any EU countries.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas still hopes, however, that all 27 member states will soon be behind the 18th sanctions package.

“I am very sorry that we did not reach our goal today. The European Commission was very close to assuring Slovakia that its energy supply is secure despite saying goodbye to Russian gas.”

“Now we need to agree on the sanctions package. It has already taken two months,” said Kallas candidly about the growing irritation about Slovakia’s obstruction.

“The sanctions are necessary to deprive Russia of the means to continue the war,” says Kallas.

Lower price cap on Russian oil

However, she hopes that a way to get the sanctions approved may already be found on Wednesday. Despite Slovakia’s opposition, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was also optimistic ahead of Tuesday’s ministerial meeting in Brussels:

“We are very, very close. Whether it will be today or tomorrow, I don’t know, but I am convinced that we are close,” Rasmussen said ahead of today’s meeting.

The sanctions package targets Russian energy revenues, Russian banks, and the Russian military industry.

Among the proposals is to lower the oil price cap from USD 60 to USD 45 per barrel.

This should help reduce Russia’s revenue and pressure the nation toward the negotiating table.

The oil price cap was agreed by the G7 countries in 2022 and is set at a level that will reduce Russia’s revenues while keeping global energy markets stable through continued supplies.

The price cap prohibits trade in Russian crude oil transported by tankers if the price paid exceeds USD 60 per barrel.

English edit by Daniel Frank Christensen