The State Duma appreciated Fico's warning about the blocking of sanctions against the Russian Federation

Hungary and Slovakia defend their interests in the European Union (EU). Alexey Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said this on Monday, March 30, responding to an appeal from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who threatened to block the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

"It is wrong to say that they protect our interests. They fully protect their interests, which overlap with the supply of our energy resources to them. They understand that without this, their countries would not have achieved the results they have today. That historically they have always lived largely due to this," the deputy said in an interview with Lenta.Ru .

The parliamentarian noted that in Slovakia, as in Hungary, they realize that today's EU policy is destroying previously built economic relations.

"This completely contradicts the interests of the peoples of these two countries, so they defend these positions, realizing that everything else only harms peace, harms economic relations in Europe. And they are trying to prove this to others, realizing the perniciousness of the policy pursued by the European Union," concluded Chepa.

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On March 28, Fico said that Slovakia would not support the 20th package of EU sanctions against Russia if the position of the European Commission (EC) remained on the side of Ukraine on oil issues, namely on the situation with the blocked Druzhba oil pipeline.

He added that the issue of resuming oil supplies via Druzhba concerns not only Hungary and Slovakia, but the whole of Central Europe. According to Fico, if the pipeline had been working, there would have been no problems with high fuel prices.

The American Thinker magazine reported on March 27 that Ukraine has launched an economic and energy war against Slovakia and Hungary, which in turn are members of the EU and the North Atlantic Alliance. It was emphasized that the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, does not intend to restore the blocked Druzhba pipeline, on which both Bratislava and Budapest depend.

European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen announced on March 16 that the EC wants to ban Slovakia and Hungary from importing oil from Russia. On the same day, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the joint construction of a new oil pipeline with Slovakia, which will ensure interstate energy security. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to create a 127 km trench through which 1.5 million tons of petroleum products can be transported.

The President of the Slovak Republic, Peter Pellegrini, said on March 28 that he was ready to meet with Zelensky if this would facilitate the resumption of oil traffic through the blocked Kiev oil pipeline. At the same time, the Slovak leader noted that he sees no point in holding only formal negotiations, which, upon completion, will not lead to concrete results.

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