Blackmailing Ukraine: Fico threatens to block EU aid package for Kyiv
8 March 19:12
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he will block a large EU loan to Ukraine worth €90 billion if inspectors are unable to inspect the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Reuters.
In his video address, Fico announced that on March 10, he will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris and demand that experts visit the Druzhba oil pipeline.
Otherwise, if this does not happen, the Slovak prime minister threatens to take over from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and also block the EU loan to Ukraine in the amount of €90 billion.
“The most important message will be that Slovakia is ready, if necessary, to take over from Hungary. Blocking this huge military gift to Ukraine is a legitimate tool for restoring oil supplies,” he said.
Reuters also notes that Slovakia has already suspended emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine amid the conflict.
What preceded it
We will remind you that Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia through Ukraine have been suspended since the end of January. This happened after Kyiv said that an attack by the Russian Federation had caused a fire that seriously damaged the pipeline.
The Ukrainian side also says that the oil pipeline cannot be repaired quickly. However, Hungary and Slovakia believe that Kyiv is deliberately delaying the resumption of supplies for political reasons.
For this reason, Hungary vetoed new EU sanctions against Russia and a €90 billion loan that the bloc provided to Ukraine.
Incidentally, Orbán also said recently that Hungary would suspend gasoline and diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine until Kyiv resumes operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
