Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said his country is ready to support the EU's proposed 18th package of sanctions against Russia, on one condition. The statement came just hours after his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, said both Hungary and Slovakia were opposed to increased sanctions pressure.
Points of attention
- Negotiations are ongoing, and Slovakia insists on safeguards to address possible negative consequences, such as those related to Russian energy supplies.
- Slovakia aims to transfer the discussion of sanctions to the European Council and connect it with the RePowerEU proposal for political importance.
What is known about the condition of Slovakia
As the Foreign Minister noted, official Bratislava analyzes each package of sanctions from the point of view of whether it can harm the national economy.
Negotiations are still ongoing. But based on what has been discussed so far, it is clear that the package will not have a negative impact on the Slovak economy, and we are ready to support it.
Juraj Blanar
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia
Despite this, the diplomat made it clear that his country's authorities would demand "guarantees" and support from official Brussels to mitigate the consequences of the halt in Russian energy supplies.
According to him, there are also arbitrage risks that will affect the Slovak Republic — possibly up to 20 billion euros.
"Therefore, we demand guarantees as to how these negative consequences will be eliminated," emphasized Juraj Blanar.
He also added that it is politically important for official Bratislava that the discussion of the sanctions package be transferred to the European Council and linked to the RePowerEU proposal.
