Simecka: Fico Unable to Justify his Threat to Block 18th Package of Sanctions(2)

Brussels/Bratislava, 26 June (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico is incapable of justifying his threat to block the 18th package of sanctions against Russia at the European Council session, leader of Progressive Slovakia (PS) Michal Simecka declared on Thursday at a press briefing in Brussels - after his meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas and others. According to Simecka, due to Fico’s foreign policy, Slovakia now has virtually no allies in the EU except for Hungary. Fico, during a session of the Slovak House's Committee for European Affairs before departing for Brussels, stated that he will not vote for the 18th sanctions package until the problem related to the planned complete halt of Russian gas imports to the EU is resolved — a point he wants to raise with his partners during negotiations. Fico later clarified that if Brussels does not agree to postpone the vote, he will use his veto power. According to him, the “REpowerEU” plan introduced by the European Commission would significantly harm Slovakia, turning it from a “starting point of the pipeline” into an end-point country. „When Fico threatens to block the sanctions package today, he can’t even say why he’s doing it — his positions on vetoing or not voting are constantly changing,” said Simecka, pointing to what he described as shifting statements from both the Prime Minister and Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar. The PS leader expressed concern that the ongoing EU leaders’ summit “will only further confirm and expose the isolation that Slovakia has found itself in within the EU.” „The Prime Minister came to this summit threatening to block the 18th EU sanctions package. He has to say this and issue threats because he no longer has allies and no results to show. I want to point out that this is proof of how his so-called sovereign foreign policy — aimed in all directions — is not working and is failing,” Simecka added. He also claimed that all EU member states except Slovakia and Hungary have “done their homework” regarding the REpowerEU initiative by diversifying their energy sources, and thus are prepared to adopt the initiative. „We should have made a much bigger progress by now,” he said, adding that even the Prime Minister himself allegedly doesn’t know what exactly he wants from the European Commission — “whether it's some kind of compensation for Slovakia or a delay. It's exactly this kind of unclear, confused policy that pushes Slovakia into a corner where no one is really talking to us anymore,” concluded Simecka. mf