The Slovak Prime Minister sharply criticized the Ukrainian president in an open letter addressed to the leaders of the union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's unilateral decision to stop the transit of Russian gas will cost the European Union (EU) many tens of billions of euros in losses, its "quiet" acceptance is wrong and will lead to tensions and countermeasures, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated in an open address to the leaders of the EU's central institutions in his letter.
In a letter addressed to the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission (EC), the Slovak Prime Minister detailed the negative effects of the unilateral decision of the Ukrainian President on the EU, calling on the EU leaders to pay urgent attention to the unprecedented situation that has arisen due to the decision.
In the letter, Robert Fico emphasized the one-sidedness of the decision, highlighting: in a letter sent to the Slovak Deputy Prime Minister in December of this year, the EC clearly established that there is no EU legislation that would prohibit the conclusion of a contract on the transit of Russian gas.
Regarding the Ukrainian president's decision, Fico pointed out that the Slovakian side made an offer to its Ukrainian partners, including the delivery of non-Russian gas, but Volodymyr Zelenskyi rejected this as well.
Robert Fico called it unquestionable that the Ukrainian president's decision will have an extremely negative impact on the competitiveness of the EU member states.
Referring to the impact study requested by the government of Bratislava, the Slovak Prime Minister wrote: the stoppage of Ukrainian gas transit will raise the price of gas per megawatt hour by 10-12 euros on the leading Dutch and German stock exchanges. According to their calculations, this will directly mean an additional expenditure of 40-50 billion euros annually for the EU member states, and an additional 60-70 billion euros as a secondary effect on the price of electricity.
He noted that if the Ukrainian gas transit were to continue, it would bring Russia an estimated 2 billion euros in revenue during the same period.
In his letter, Robert Fico emphasized: he is not aware that the European Commission's superficial attitude towards the matter is due to the lack of conducting relevant analyzes or that the matter was decided only on ideological grounds, but it is certain, he underlined, that it was underestimated by the Ukrainian the impact of the president's decision on European economies.
The head of the Slovak government stated: the silent acceptance of the Ukrainian president's unilateral decision would be irrational and incorrect, and would lead to tension and countermeasures.
He added that he is convinced that it is in the interest of the entire population of the EU that European support for Ukraine is provided rationally and not in the form of gestures that are self-destructive and extremely damaging to the EU.
MTI
Cover photo: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico
Source: MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq
