Foreign Ministry: 20th Package of Sanctions against Russia Not Adopted Yet

Bratislava, 22 April (TASR) - The process of adopting the EU's 20th package of sanctions against Russia has not been formally completed and the sanctions package has not been adopted, while Slovakia's Permanent Representative to the EU was instructed to agree, during Wednesday's meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), only to the launch of the so-called written procedure, which does not constitute the adoption of the sanctions package, the Foreign Affairs Ministry's communications department informed TASR about this, adding that Slovakia's positions still apply. The new set of sanctions was presented by European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen on February 6. To mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, the EU originally planned to adopt the package by 24 February, but it was blocked by Hungary due to halted supplies of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. Last week, Slovakia also announced that it would not support the sanctions until supplies via the Druzhba pipeline are restored. "As confirmed by Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) at yesterday's (21 April) meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, Slovakia reiterates that its support for the 20th sanctions package is conditional on the restoration of oil flow through the Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine to Slovakia," stated the ministry. "In the event that oil starts flowing without interruption and at the agreed capacity to the Slovak territory, Slovakia will not block the sanctions package in line with the Slovak government's consistent approach, under which we only support sanctions not having an impact on Slovakia's economy," stated the ministry. According to the ministry, Slovakia's position regarding the €90 billion loan for Ukraine remains unchanged. Slovakia is not participating in guarantees for this loan and has not blocked it in the context of approving changes to the current EU financial framework. jrg