Korcok Slams Fico’s Strategy, Calls for Diplomatic Push on EU Gas Proposal

Bratislava, 27 June (TASR) - Former foreign minister and opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) board member Ivan Korcok called on the government to engage in real diplomacy if it wants to advance its priorities in the EU’s proposal to halt Russian gas imports from January 2028, also urging it to stop blackmailing the EU, as he said such an approach leads nowhere. Korcok recalled that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) aimed to have the EU’s REPowerEU initiative — which seeks to completely stop imports of Russian gas into EU-member states from 1 January 2028 — withdrawn. According to him, Fico failed to achieve either significant changes to the proposal or a promise of amendments. “The result is absurd, because Slovakia blocked the 18th package of anti-Russian sanctions, which the foreign minister [Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD)] had claimed all week would have no negative impact on Slovakia, and we received absolutely no concessions in return for blocking the sanctions,” Korcok said at a press conference, adding that Slovakia is leaving the summit defeated and holding the “short end of the stick.” He also criticised the Slovak government and the prime minister for continuing to build the myth that Russia is a reliable gas supplier. “If the government continues to insist that REPowerEU is unacceptable, I'm now calling on it [the government] to present a clear plan of diplomatic action outlining how it intends to achieve either the withdrawal or, more importantly, changes to this legislation,” Korcok declared, adding that while the prime minister is blocking the 18th sanctions package, he has at the same time approved the extension of all 17 previous sanction packages that have been in effect until now. Following the one-day European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday night, Fico reiterated that Slovakia won't support the 18th package of sanctions against Russia unless it receives guarantees from the European Commission regarding the proposal to stop Russian gas imports from January 2028, while also praising the Commission’s constructive approach on the issue. lin/mcs