BRATISLAVA Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to “make it more difficult” to reach the conclusions of this week's EU summit in Brussels unless the bloc demands that Ukraine resume gas transit through its territory.
Fico (Smer-SD/NI) did not directly state whether he would block the conclusions if his demands were not met.
At a press conference to discuss Slovakia's conditions ahead of the EU summit, he warned that the situation on the gas market was critical.
“Without gas transit through Ukrainian territory, Europe will never be competitive,” he said.
Fico insisted that this did not necessarily mean transit of Russian gas, arguing that Kyiv could also transport gas from Azerbaijan. He also criticized the EU for not demanding anything in return for its support for Ukraine.
Earlier, Slovakia's prime minister accused Ukraine of exploiting EU rules that require pipeline owners to transport purchased gas to Ukraine. He said foreign traders were using Slovakia's reverse pipeline in Vojany to circumvent the restrictions.
(Natalia Silenska | Euractiv.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
