RT reported that on January 14, a Slovakian delegation led by Vice Chairmen of the National Assembly Andrej Danko and Tibor Gaspar arrived in Moscow to discuss trade and gas supply after Ukraine decided to stop the transit of Russian gas through the country.
Kiev announced the termination of the gas transit contract of Russian energy giant Gazprom by the end of 2024. The decision puts countries such as Austria, Italy and Slovakia - which depend on Russian gas flows via pipeline - at risk of serious energy shortages.
Mr. Tibor Gaspar said that Ukraine's move would not only cause damage to Slovakia but also seriously affect other EU countries, while Kiev itself would also lose about 1 billion euros in transit fees.
This is a completely political decision. It does not hurt Russia but only hurts the economies of EU member states, Gaspar said.
Slovakia has responded strongly. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that he would reject initiatives to support Ukraine across the EU and take separate measures to protest Kiev. He also sent an invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Slovakia for dialogue but only received "insulting" words - according to Mr. Gaspar.
Meanwhile, Andrej Danko said that Mr. Zelensky is implementing instructions from the West. The West does not care whether Slovakia has gas or not, Danko criticized, stressing that Slovakia is stuck in its conflicts of interests in the EU.
Gas prices in the EU are currently four times higher than in the US and Mr. Gaspar called this "an unusual situation". Meanwhile, Mr. Danko said that Slovakia's current situation of having to buy expensive energy only benefits major countries such as Germany and France, when Slovakia has to borrow money from German banks to maintain its economy.
We are buying energy at an expensive price, but this cannot last forever, Danko warned.
According to both Slovakian officials, the EU's "useless" sanctions on Russia are effectively hurting member states. They warned that if this situation continues, smaller countries in the EU will face an energy crisis and a serious economic downturn.
