Blanar Denies He Discussed EU's Sanctions List with Russian Ambassador

Bratislava, 13 March (TASR) - In response to claims made by the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, which has criticised the Foreign Affairs Ministry for supporting discussions on removing Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov from the European Union's (EU) sanctions list, Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) has denied that he discussed the sanctions list with new Russian ambassador to Slovakia Sergey Andreev. "[PS presidium member] Ivan Korcok criticises me for receiving the Russian ambassador to Slovakia. I received him during a standard introductory visit as a newly arrived ambassador, just as I do with all new ambassadors. Slovak diplomacy is interested in maintaining good relations with the Russian Federation as well as with other countries with which we may not agree on everything. And I absolutely reject Korcok's fabricated claim that I spoke with him about the sanctions list," said Blanar. Blanar stated that Slovakia has never blocked the sanctions list, noting that the list is approved unanimously, not by a qualified majority. "Yes, we were prepared to block this list two years ago if EU-member states hadn't accepted our arguments against the unjustified inclusion of Jozef Hambalek on the list. But this wasn't necessary, because all our colleagues understood that this Slovak citizen had been included there unjustifiably," said Blanar. In response to Korcok's call to disclose the number of staff at the Russian Embassy in Bratislava, he stated that the former foreign minister should already be aware of this information. He pointed out that a reduction in the number of diplomats took place during Korcok's tenure, and that the Russian side subsequently took the same step regarding the Slovak Embassy in Moscow. "Nothing has changed in that regard," he stated. PS presidium member Korcok claims that Slovak diplomacy will only give its consent to extend EU sanctions against more than 2,600 Russian individuals and companies if Fridman and Usmanov are removed from the list. Korcok asked in what way this serves Slovakia's interests, pointing to this week's meeting between Blanar and Andreev. Korcok also called on the minister to inform the public how many extra Russian diplomats are working at the Russian Embassy in Bratislava. am/df