Slovakia threatens to reduce aid to Ukrainian refugees in spat over Russian gas

By Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — Slovakia could take retaliatory measures against Ukraine after Kyiv halted the flow of Russian gas through its territory, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned.

In a video message posted to Facebook Thusday, Fico suggested his Smer party could cut its electricity supplies to Ukraine, as well as reducing aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Slovakia exported 2.4 million megawatt hours of electricity to Ukraine in the first 11 months of 2024, Reuters reported, citing data from the country’s grid operator, helping the war-torn country meet shortages caused by Russian bombing of its energy infrastructure.

On New Year’s Day, Ukraine made good on its promise to halt the transport of Russian gas to Europe through its territory after a key deal with Moscow expired. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the move as “one of Moscow’s greatest defeats.”

Fico described the ending of Russian gas flows as “sabotage” by Zelensky and said a Slovak delegation would discuss the situation in Brussels next Tuesday. After that, he said, his ruling coalition would consider retaliation.

“I declare (my Smer-SSD party) are ready to debate and agree in the coalition on halting supplies of electricity and on significant lowering of support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia,” Fico said.

“The only alternative for a sovereign Slovakia is renewal of transit or demanding compensation mechanisms that will replace the loss in public finances of nearly 500 million euros.”

Tensions between Kyiv and Bratislava have escalated in recent days, with Fico warning on Wednesday that the halting of Russian gas flows via Ukraine would have a “drastic” impact on the European Union but not on Russia.

Fico had previously argued that the end of the deal would lead to higher gas and electricity prices in Europe.

After putting an end to Russian gas flows to Europe via its territory, Ukraine now faces a loss of some $800 million a year in transit fees from Russia, while Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in gas sales, according to Reuters.

On December 22, Fico was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, marking a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine vary greatly from those of the majority of European leaders. Since returning to power in 2023, Fico has ended his country’s military aid to Ukraine and pledged to block Ukraine from joining NATO. He has also been critical of EU sanctions on Russia.

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CNN’s Kosta Gak, Alex Stambaugh and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.