BRATISLAVA: Slovakia cannot support more European Union sanctions against Russia until it gets EU proposals to align climate targets with the needs of carmakers and heavy industry, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday.
Fico also demanded measures to tackle electricity prices in the bloc.
The EU is debating a 19th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
EU diplomats have said a new package was likely to include more listings of Chinese companies, Russian banks and vessels in Moscow’s sanctions-evading “shadow fleet,” as well as a transaction ban on Russian oil.
Fico, who has broken ranks with European allies over his pro-Moscow stance and met Russian President Vladimir Putin three times since last year, has long argued that sanctions do not work.
Fico said on Thursday that he would “not support adoption of another package until the Commission submits realistic proposals that will align demanding climate targets with the needs of the production of cars, not only in Slovakia, and with the needs of heavy industry.”
“I will not support any further package unless the European Commission submits realistic proposals regarding electricity prices in Europe,” he added in comments after meeting EU Council President Antonio Costa in Bratislava.
Fico temporarily held up the last sanctions package, demanding guarantees against potential losses from a separate EU plan to end all gas and oil imports from Russia from 2028.
“How many sanctions packages do we have to adopt to change Russia’s approach to the war?” Fico said.
The West has imposed tens of thousands of sanctions on Russia over its 3-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine, and its 2014 annexation of Crimea, in a bid to hobble Russia’s economy.
Fico has also argued against military aid for Ukraine and said the EU should instead strive for peace.