Simecka: Halting Electricity Supplies to Ukraine Would Border on Treason (2)

Bratislava, 23 February (TASR) - It would be bordering on treason if electricity supplies to Ukraine were actually halted, opposition Progressive Party (PS) leader Michal Simecka told a news conference held in front of the residence of the state-run Slovak Electricity Transmission System (SEPS) on Monday, calling on the company's board of directors to disobey the "order" of Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD). "Halting the transmission of electricity to Ukraine would dramatically damage Slovakia's interests," said Simecka, stressing the economic and foreign political dimensions. "As far as I know, Ukraine is the second-largest consumer of our electricity. However, other countries such as Romania and Poland are ready to compensate for any outage," he said, adding that this decision would mean a loss amounting to hundreds of millions of euros for Slovakia. According to Simecka, there's also a risk of further damage to the country's reputation as an EU member. PS vice-chair Ivan Stefunko warned that the premier's intended step wouldn't only deprive the state-owned company of profits; it would have significant consequences for the future. "Ukraine would lose interest in further cooperation with Slovakia in this area. This would be a major blow to planned investments related to cooperation with Ukraine in the coming years," warned Stefunko. He opined that the state-owned company can't afford to make a decision that would economically harm Slovakia. He and Simecka therefore called on the SEPS board not to yield to pressure from Fico. PS presidium member Ivan Korcok stated that Slovakia by its stance has prepared a "special gift" for Ukraine to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the aggression against Slovakia's eastern neighbour. "Hungary, but also Slovakia, are preparing to block the 20th package of sanctions against Russia. The European Union wanted to adopt it symbolically on the fourth anniversary of the Russian aggression. This, along with the threats that we'll halt electricity supplies, is a special Slovak gift to Ukraine on the anniversary of the shameful Russian aggression," stated Korcok, adding that the EU is evidently losing patience with the Slovak premier. The 'Slovakia' party has also appealed to the board of the state-owned company, emphasising that the premier doesn't have the authority to ask SEPS to stop electricity supplies. It stressed that stopping supplies would cause economic damage to the country, entailing criminal liability. In this context, member of the party's presidium Julius Jakab mentioned a possible breach of obligations in the management of somebody else's property. "If there are valid contracts for electricity supplies, the breaching of which would cause millions in damage to the state, this could have criminal consequences," he warned, stressing that this isn't a threat, but a call to the management of the state-owned company not to "be persuaded to do what Fico wants." He added that the party is also communicating with lawyers on this matter. The Christian Democrats (KDH) consider the prime minister's statements to be "an expensive political theatre show" intended to cover up his own inability to address Slovakia's energy security issues. MP Jozef Hajko warned that political interference in valid international contracts would flagrantly damage Slovakia's credibility. "This would also affect other partners, which could backfire on Slovakia," he emphasised. KDH considers the idea of stopping supplies to the Ukrainians, who are struggling to survive due to the devastation of their energy infrastructure by Russian missiles, to be a fatal moral failure on the part of the premier that amounts to pandering to the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The harshest statements in response to Fico's plan came from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), who compared his request to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine to a war crime. Member of the SaS Republican Council Karol Galek pointed out in this regard that supplies to Ukraine represent so-called emergency electricity, which is supplied in cases of emergency. "If Robert Fico wants to stop such supplies, he's actually stopping humanitarian aid. He's stopping electricity that Ukrainians will not have, for example, in hospitals, where they need to treat the wounded after Russian attacks," stressed Galek at an SaS press briefing in Trencin on Monday. In addition to the moral collapse of the prime minister, Galek also pointed to damage to Slovakia's economy and reputation. Fico announced in a video posted on social media on Sunday (22 February) evening that he's scheduled to visit SEPS later on Monday and ask it to halt emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine due to the suspension of Russian oil transit through Ukrainian territory to Slovakia and Hungary. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 5-8. ko/am/df