
Slovakia Secures Assurances As EU Forces Through 18th Russia Sanctions Package
Nationalist prime minister Robert Fico called Brussels’ plans to phase out Russian gas “idiotic.”

Nationalist prime minister Robert Fico called Brussels’ plans to phase out Russian gas “idiotic.”

Brussels agrees to lower oil price cap, blacklist tankers, and target Russian allies as part of 18th sanctions package.

Slovakia’s government says EU promises fall far short of real energy guarantees.

“We want guarantees that this problem will not remain only on Slovakia’s back,” PM Fico said ahead of Tuesday’s key meeting.

Facing pressure to meet NATO commitments, a group of EU countries will now be allowed to take on extra debt to fund military upgrades.

Prosecutors say Juraj Cintula aimed to disrupt the Slovak government by targeting the prime minister, who survived four gunshot wounds in a 2024 attack.

EUobserver demands more “frozen funds, intrusive audits, and public insults” from Brussels, and even asks other member states to have their intelligence services spy on the sovereigntist governments.

Slovakian PM Robert Fico could not convince EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to grant his country concessions on Russian energy imports.

The two landlocked countries seek to use their veto as leverage to gain opt-outs from the separate Russian energy ban.
Both governments say Brussels’ energy plan would harm their economies and override national decisions.