EU state’s PM vows retaliation over Kiev’s gas ‘sabotage’
Slovakia is preparing to take retaliatory measures against Kiev after it halted the transit of Russian gas through its territory to EU countries on January 1, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico, who slammed the move as an act of “sabotage” by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
Kiev refused to extend the contract with Russia’s Gazprom beyond the end of 2024, effectively cutting off the flow of natural gas to EU member states such as Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia.
The situation is “extremely serious and deserving of a sovereign response from Slovakia,” Fico said in a video message on Facebook on Thursday. He argued that the halt would result in Slovakia losing hundreds of millions of euros annually. Finding a replacement for Russian gas this year alone could mean at least €90 million in additional costs, according to Slovakia’s state-owned gas importer, SPP.
“The only alternative for a sovereign Slovakia is the renewal of transit or demanding compensation mechanisms that will replace the loss in public finances of nearly 500 million euros,” the prime minister said.
“I declare that [the SMER-SSD party] is ready to debate and agree in the coalition on halting supplies of electricity and significantly lowering support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia,” he added. There are approximately 140,000 Ukrainian refugees benefiting from various assistance programs. The country also exported 2.4 million megawatt-hours of electricity to Ukraine in the first 11 months of 2024, according to data from the Slovak grid operator.
Fico stressed that only the US, which has increased its gas exports to Europe, benefits from Zelensky’s act of “sabotage,” while Russia faces no significant harm and Slovakia bears higher energy costs. Moscow similarly stated that Ukraine’s decision only benefits the US at the expense of Washington’s supposed allies.
“The US is the main beneficiary of this redistribution in the Old World energy markets and the primary sponsor of the Ukrainian crisis,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
Zelensky previously accused Fico of aligning with Moscow, describing the Slovak government’s stance as opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine. The Slovak Foreign Ministry dismissed these remarks as baseless “nonsense.”
The European Commission has sought to downplay the impact of the gas deal coming to an end, claiming that the EU’s gas infrastructure is sufficiently flexible to accommodate non-Russian gas supplies via alternative routes. Despite these assurances, the sudden halt has led to a surge in energy prices in Europe, reaching €50 per megawatt-hour for the first time in over a year.
