The ruling party of Slovakia promised to speak at the EP on gas supplies from the Russian Federation

Deputies of Slovakia's ruling SMER party will submit to the European Parliament (EP) the issue of continuing Russian gas supplies to the EU. This was stated to Izvestia by the EP deputy and SMER deputy chairman Lubos Blaha.

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"Of course, we will do everything possible to have this issue considered in the European Parliament, but there are few hopes for success in this situation. Realistically speaking, there is no chance that the European Parliament in its current composition will reverse the decision to ban the export of energy resources from Russia. This would be a disaster for the entire EU, but for Slovakia in particular," he said.

The problem is not only the much higher price of raw materials from other sources, but also that Slovakia will have to pay a huge fine for non-compliance with the terms of the contract with Gazprom. Therefore, Bratislava should try to solve this problem in some other way. But there are not many of them, mostly diplomatic instruments, and the last option is the right of veto in the European Council.

"It is this right of veto that they are trying to circumvent by saying that a majority in the Council must vote for a ban on Russian raw materials, which is in fact an arrogant way of telling us to shut up and keep your head down. That is why Prime Minister Fico is now trying to at least postpone the vote on the next package of anti-Russian sanctions until the lords in Brussels deal with our serious problem," Blaha said.

In May, the European Commission published a roadmap for the abandonment of Russian energy resources. The document suggests that imports under current short-term contracts should be stopped by June 17, 2026. Deliveries under long-term agreements can be carried out until the end of 2027.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Right of veto: Slovakia intends to exchange the 18th package of sanctions for gas guarantees