MOSCOW,: Slovakia will not vote for the European Union’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia on June 27 and will propose postponing this issue until the situation with the possible suspension of Russian energy imports to the EU is resolved, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday.
“Tomorrow, Slovakia will not vote for the 18th package of sanctions,” Fico told Slovak lawmakers before departing for Brussels.
If the vote occurs anyway, Slovakia will exercise its veto power, Fico added.
On Wednesday, Slovakia’s association of employers’ unions criticized the European Commission’s idea to ban the import of energy resources from Russia, citing the proposal’s potentially destructive consequences for EU energy security.
On Tuesday, Fico said that Slovakia would block the adoption of new sanctions if the European Commission promoted the rejection of Russian energy resources at any cost.
In early June, the Slovak prime minister said his country would not support the 18th package of sanctions against Russia if the European Commission did not offer a real solution to the situation with energy resources. Fico also said that he remained a supporter of continuing energy supplies from Russia to the EU, since their cessation would negatively affect the cost of energy and European competitiveness.
The REPowerEU plan, aimed at making Europe independent of Russian fossil fuel imports, was developed in May 2022. In early May 2025, the European Commission presented a draft road map to stop Russian energy imports by the end of 2027. It includes a ban on imports from Russia under new Russian gas contracts and existing spot contracts, which is to go into effect by the end of 2025. The ban could also affect the remaining imports of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas from Russia under long-term contracts.
