Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that he wants to normalize relations with Russia and increase gas supplies through the TurkStream pipeline, Reuters reports.
Such statements contradict the position of the European Union, which wants complete independence from Russian energy resources. The EU massively abandoned Russian natural gas after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Populist-led Slovakia and Hungary, both EU members, have meanwhile sought to maintain ties with Russia, on whose resources they still depend.
Fico said during his meeting with Putin in Beijing that he wanted to openly indicate that he was very interested in improving Slovakia-Russia relations. He added that it was necessary to return to what was previously customary in the field of economic cooperation between the countries.
The EU has pledged to end decades of energy relations with Moscow and aims to completely end imports of Russian energy resources by the end of 2027. Hungary and Slovakia, on the other hand, have opposed this plan, citing significantly more expensive energy resources from other sources.
Fico thanked Putin for the safe and regular supply of natural gas.
TurkStream is the only pipeline through which Russian natural gas reaches Europe. In 2022, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was blown up, while gas exports from Russia via Ukraine were suspended from the 1st of January of this year.
Slovakia has already imported about 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas through Hungary this year. A project is currently being implemented that would allow increasing the amount of gas flowing from Hungary.
Fico announced that Slovakia will resume issuing visas to Russian citizens. He also said he wants Russian companies to be involved in the development of a new nuclear power plant, a project the Slovak government wants to hand over to the US company Westinghouse.
Fico is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 5th of September. Fico plans to discuss the disruptions to the Druzhba oil pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, caused by Ukrainian attacks.
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