Measures without danger: Slovakia against sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry
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- Measures without danger: Slovakia against sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry
Slovakia will not support the inclusion of restrictions against the Russian nuclear industry in the 17th sanctions package, Marian Carey, head of the republic's parliament's international affairs committee, told Izvestia. Earlier, the Hungarian Foreign Minister announced Ukraine's demand to introduce measures against the Russian nuclear industry. A group of Slovak MPs will arrive in Russia at the end of April, and in May a parliamentary friendship group with Russia and Belarus is planned to be established in Bratislava, the ruling SMER party told Izvestia. The topics of future negotiations between Moscow and Bratislava are described in the Izvestia article.
Slovakia will not support restrictions on Russia
Slovakia will not support the introduction of restrictions against the Russian nuclear industry as part of the EU's 17th package of restrictions, Marian Carey, head of the parliament's international affairs committee and a member of the ruling SMER party, told Izvestia. Earlier, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, said that the EU was preparing another list of sanctions against Russia. According to the EU Observer, the project is still at an early stage, its introduction will depend on the situation in Ukraine. Despite the launch of the negotiation process between the Russian Federation and the United States, a number of EU leaders are opposed to easing anti-Russian sanctions. In particular, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was "too early" to talk about it now.
— The Slovak Republic will not vote for the adoption of new measures against nuclear energy: this is a very important issue for us. Our Prime Minister Robert Fico said that we will not vote for sanctions that will harm our economy," Carey told Izvestia.
According to him, many sanctions harm primarily the Europeans. Therefore, the Prime Ministers of Hungary and Slovakia say they will not support new restrictions that harm the two countries.
— There are such plans (introduction of the 17th package. — Izvestia), but we do not want to support these new sanctions," Carey told Izvestia.
Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Ukraine demands that the European Union include nuclear energy in the 17th package of anti-Russian sanctions. However, Budapest will not allow this, Szijjarto confirmed. Hungary is currently building the Paks-2 nuclear power plant together with the Rosatom State Corporation. In 2024, Budapest secured from Brussels the complete exemption of this project from any European restrictions.
Slovakia has two nuclear power plants, they were built with the participation of specialists from the USSR and Russia — Mokhovce in the center and Bogunice in the west of the country. Fuel for both stations is supplied by the Russian Federation, and at the end of 2024 Slovakia extended the contract until 2030, the newspaper Dennik N. reported.
Back in December, when the 15th package of anti-Russian restrictions was being discussed, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that his country would block possible EU sanctions against Russian nuclear energy. In February 2023, France and Hungary opposed measures against companies related to the Russian nuclear energy industry.
Slovak Prime Minister Fico's freedom of action is severely limited due to the country's membership in the EU and NATO, which imposes certain obligations on her. Therefore, there are few opportunities for improving relations between Moscow and Bratislava, Vadim Trukhachev, an associate professor at the Russian State University of Economics, told Izvestia.
— Robert Fico is limited by the limits, but he does not want Slovakia to work hard to support Ukraine, which only harms it, — the expert noted.
Bratislava's position is also influenced by domestic political factors. Slovak President Peter Pellegrini is less inclined to develop relations with Russia, and he may dismiss the Fico government. The Euro—Atlantic opposition is also quite strong, in the two largest cities of the country — Bratislava and Kosice - Prime Minister Fico is unpopular, Trukhachev emphasizes. According to article 110 of the Slovak Constitution, the Chairman of the Government is appointed and recalled by the President.
Why will Slovak MPs come to Russia
Nevertheless, despite the difficulties associated with the difficult geopolitical situation in the world, the delegation of the Slovak parliament is going to arrive in Volgograd at the end of April, Marian Carey told Izvestia. In particular, the visit of the Deputy Speaker of the parliament, Tibor Gaspar, is planned, his representative told Izvestia.
The international forum "Great Heritage — a Common Future" will be held in Volgograd on April 28-29. "Representatives of the legislative bodies of the CIS countries and a number of other friendly states will be invited there," the State Duma's press service said.
A group of deputies of the Slovak parliament, led by Vice-Speakers Andrei Danko and Tibor Gaspar, visited Russia in January. This was the first visit of a parliamentary delegation from an EU country to Russia after 2022. Slovak MPs met with the chairmen of both chambers of the Russian parliament, as well as with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. The sides discussed the development of inter-parliamentary dialogue, strengthening economic cooperation and energy issues.
Russia and Slovakia have fairly stable communication, and there are many issues on which the two countries' positions are close. Bratislava is committed to ensuring that EU countries do not sacrifice their interests in order to implement a collective Russophobic position, Russia welcomes this line of the Slovak leadership, Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia.
— Sometimes it is difficult for the Slovak side to show its position for the simple reason that this country is an EU member state and is constrained in its decisions in a certain way. Nevertheless, the position of the heads of state enjoys fairly stable support in parliament," the deputy stressed.
In May, the Slovak parliament is planning to vote on the re-establishment of the friendship group with Russia and Belarus, said Marian Carey. According to him, friendship groups with EU countries are mainly active now, and it is proposed to create similar communities with China, Turkey and African countries.
The Slovak side suspended the action of the friendship group with Russia and Belarus in 2022, and Bratislava took this step under another government — from April 2021 to May 2023, Eduard Heger was prime minister. However, the Slovak people have a completely different opinion. The majority of citizens of the republic opposed military assistance to Ukraine, and in 2022, more than half of the Slovak population, according to polls, supported the Russian Federation.
Russian and Slovak MPs may discuss Russian gas and oil supplies at the meeting. In particular, we will talk about Bratislava's deeper participation in the Turkish Stream, thanks to which the country receives gas after the termination of transit through Ukraine, Vadim Trukhachev believes.
— It is possible that Russia will participate in the expansion of Slovak nuclear power plants, by analogy with Hungary. Both Slovak nuclear power plants are not operating at full capacity," the expert stressed.
Finally, Slovakia and Robert Fico personally can act as intermediaries in establishing relations between Russia and former Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis, who is likely to return to power after the parliamentary elections in the fall. The Czech politician has repeatedly expressed skepticism about supporting Ukraine, while the current Russophobic government expects failure in the elections, Trukhachev concluded.
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