After his visit to Moscow, the head of the Slovak government Robert Fico toughened his tone towards Ukraine. It’s about natural gas and a lot of money.
Paul Flückiger, varsovie/Bratislava / ch media
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Even Viktor Orbán, the controversial Hungarian leader often considered pro-Kremlin, has not gone this far in his rhetoric. “If Ukraine interrupts the transit of Russian gas, then we will take revenge,” launched Robert Fico, directly threatening kyiv. And to specify:
“If we have no choice, we will cut off the electricity, which Ukraine desperately needs because of the power cuts”
The suspension of deliveries from Slovakia is scheduled for January 1, the date on which the gas transit contract between Ukraine and Russia, signed in 2020, expires. In the spring, kyiv announced that there was no question of renewing this agreement with a country at war against it.
The Russian gas which passes through Slovakia to supply Western Europe nevertheless helps to finance the hundreds of drones and missiles that Moscow sends to Ukraine every night. These attacks target civilian energy infrastructure with the aim of plunging the country into darkness and breaking the morale of Ukrainians, forcing the population to give in.
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“Putin obviously asked Fico to open a second energy front against Ukraine,” President Zelensky commented bitterly on the night from Saturday to Sunday. He also accuses the head of the Slovak government of acting to the detriment of his own people. According to him, Slovakia earns 200 million euros every year from electricity which it exports to Ukraine, a key neighbor. Indeed, after Hungary and Romania, Slovakia is kyiv’s third largest electricity supplier, accounting for 19% of its imports.
A controversial visit and protests
According to Zelensky, the threat from the pro-Russian and left-populist Slovak Prime Minister is not just a friendly service to Vladimir Putin: he is mainly interested in money. So far, Slovakia has earned around half a billion euros a year from shipping Russian natural gas to Western Europe.
But if the gas no longer passes through Ukraine due to the lack of renewal of the contract with Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, Slovakia will be left without cheap gas to transport. Even though this situation has been known for several months, Bratislava seemed to be banking on a last minute compromise. Fico reportedly offered Zelensky an alternative in mid-December: transport gas from Azerbaijan via Ukrainian infrastructure to supply Slovakia.
Another option discussed was for European intermediaries to buy Russian gas on the border between Ukraine and Russia, before transporting it to Slovakia. kyiv, however, rejected both proposals, although it could have generated additional revenue for a country economically weakened by the war. But the country remains firm: “No trade with our aggressor!”
Moscow, the big winner in the situation
The Kremlin, for its part, relishes this situation. By refusing gas transit, Ukraine is only strengthening ties between Moscow, Slovakia and Hungary. These two EU members have not diversified their energy supply sources since the start of the Russian invasion.
If Hungary can still import gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline, which passes through Turkey, Slovakia has no choice but to turn to Norwegian gas, which is significantly more expensive.
Faced with this crisis, Fico traveled to Moscow last week. There, he sought help from Vladimir Putin to ensure gas deliveries, criticized Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO, and proposed Bratislava as the venue for future peace negotiations between Moscow and kyiv. “We want peace, nothing else,” he tweeted to the Slovaks.
But this trip was not well received by everyone. Many citizens gathered in front of the government headquarters to express their discontent. If gas prices rise sharply in 2025 and Fico loses public confidence, early elections could well be on the agenda.
Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci
