Fico Tells European Council President about Resolution on Anti-Russian Sanctions

Bratislava, 5 June (TASR) - Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has informed European Council President Antonio Costa about the decision of the Slovak Parliament of Thursday regarding anti-Russian sanctions, Fico himself posted on a social network on Thursday. Parliament on Thursday passed the resolution, which demands that government members should not support such sanctions, claiming that they harm Slovakia's national interests, at the international level. "Today I had a planned conversation with European Council President Antonio Costa about the European Council summit scheduled for June 26. At the beginning of the conversation, I informed him about the petition campaign in Slovakia calling for a referendum on anti-Russian sanctions, as well as about today's decision by the Slovak Parliament," stated Fico. He also told the European Council president about his intention to speak against the European Commission's proposal to completely halt all supplies of gas, oil and nuclear fuel from Russia to EU countries. If implemented, this proposal will have an extremely negative impact on the overall competitiveness of the EU and will create practically unresolvable situations for some member states, said Fico. The premier during his conversation with Costa voiced his opinion that the European Commission, by this initiative, is going against the political framework that the European Council defined in its Versailles Declaration. This declaration concedes a reduction in dependence on Russia, but not a complete halt to energy supplies. "In my opinion, the European Commission is embarking on an ideological adventure for which there's no impact analysis on the competitiveness and development of energy prices in Europe, nor is there an analysis of the enormous risks that this initiative poses to some EU-member states, especially Slovakia and Hungary," stressed Fico. ko/df