Fico threatens to stop humanitarian aid to Ukraine

Fico spoke about this in Brussels after talks with European Commission officials on January 9.

Slovakia may stop any humanitarian aid to Ukraine, decide to significantly reduce or completely cancel benefits for Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia, or cut off electricity supplies in emergency situations.

Robert Fico

Prime Minister of Slovakia

He also noted that at the political level, the country can use its veto power on a number of decisions in the European Union.

However, Fico noted, Slovakia would take such steps only if it "has no other option."

He said his threats were an opportunity to show how the leader of a sovereign country should behave.

"This is a serious problem, and Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen is aware of it," the Slovak Prime Minister said.

He separately praised the "constructive negotiations" that took place on January 9 with the European Commission, which, according to him, is very interested in resolving this problem.

Fico threatens to cut subsidies for Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia

The Slovak Prime Minister previously announced a possible interruption of electricity supplies to Ukraine in response to the suspension of Russian gas transit. Now he has also warned of a possible reduction in support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia.

At the same time, Fico admitted that there are no threats to Slovak households due to the transit stoppage. However, he claims that Bratislava will lose its income from gas transit — half a billion euros per year.

The prime minister also confirmed that representatives of Slovakia, Ukraine, and the European Commission will meet on January 7 to discuss the transit suspension. According to Fico, the talks were prompted by Kyiv's "arrogance" in complaining about Bratislava's consideration of retaliatory measures.