Slovak PM Robert Fico Calls For EU Dialogue With Russia, Lifting Gas & Oil Sanctions

Bratislava: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has called on the European Union (EU) to resume dialogue with Russia and lift sanctions on Russian energy raw materials, after holding a phone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, local media STVR reported.

"The EU, and especially the EC (the European Commission), should immediately resume dialogue with Russia and ensure such a political and legal environment that individual member states and the EU as a whole replenish the missing gas and oil reserves and enable the supply of these strategic raw materials from all possible sources and directions, including Russia," Fico said in a post on social media on Saturday (local time).

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He urged the "senseless sanctions" banning gas and oil imports from Russia to be lifted, and called for "decisive steps" to resume the operation of the Druzhba pipeline, reports Xinhua, quoting STVR media.

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According to Fico, the phone call with Orban confirmed that the huge energy crisis cannot be tackled only at the national level. Fico said the governments of Slovakia and Hungary are protecting national economies and their citizens from the "ideological blindness and incompetence" of the EC.

Hungary and Slovakia have recently faced disruptions in oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian crude oil to Central Europe via Ukraine.

The situation has heightened tensions between the two countries and Ukraine, while raising concerns about the potential impact on regional energy supplies.

Meanwhile, earlier in March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that his government would gradually halt gas supplies to Ukraine, citing what he described as a continued blockade of crude oil deliveries to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline.

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In a video message posted on social media ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Orban said Ukraine has been blocking the pipeline for around 30 days.

"As long as Ukraine does not supply oil, it will not receive gas from Hungary," he said, adding that Ukraine had targeted infrastructure linked to Hungary's southern gas supply route.

Orban said that Hungary would retain gas volumes domestically and increase storage levels to safeguard its own energy security.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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