Protests in Slovakia over Slovak Prime Minister Ficoʼs meeting with Putin

In the Slovak capital Bratislava, people took to the streets for a rally called "Enough with Russia" over yesterdayʼs meeting between Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Putin in the Kremlin.

This was reported by the Slovak publication Aktuality.

The rally was organized by the public association "Mier Ukraine." Former prime ministers of Slovakia, the opposition, artists, Ukrainian refugees, and others took part in the protest.

"Traitor," the crowd shouted at Fico.

The protest organizers stated that by negotiating with Putin, the prime minister is strengthening Russiaʼs influence on Slovakia and abusing the topic of gas transit.

According to representatives of the public association "Mier Ukraine", there is a suspicion of a violation of the law in the case of Ficoʼs trip to Moscow. Because of this, they plan to file a complaint with the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office of the Slovak Republic today.

What preceded

Fico and Putin met in the Kremlin on December 22. Most likely, the topic of conversation between Fico and Putin was the agreement on the transportation of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe, which expires at the end of December.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the meeting — he noted that Fico and Putin did not make any public joint statements because they were afraid of the publicʼs reaction.

"Moscow is providing Fico with significant discounts, but Slovakia is paying for them. Such discounts are not free — Russiaʼs payments are made through sovereignty or shady schemes," Zelensky wrote. According to him, this should interest Slovak law enforcement agencies and special services.

The Ukrainian President emphasized that the details of such a financing scheme were revealed at a recent meeting of European leaders in Brussels. At that time, the leaders noted that the Slovak Prime Minister did not want to join joint European work to achieve energy independence or find alternatives to Russian gas.

According to the President of Ukraine, Fico, on the contrary, seeks to help Russia displace American gas and European energy resources.

He emphasizes that Ficoʼs key goal is to deal with Russia. This is also indicated by the fact that the Slovak Prime Minister refused compensation that would ease the transition period and help get rid of dependence, meaning that for him this issue is not a security issue.

He is interested in Russian gas, which is worth $500 million a year. Other profits come from an oil pipeline that passes through Ukrainian territory and brings in another $500 million—this helps Fico, says the Ukrainian president.

Russian gas supplies to Slovakia

The agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the export of Russian gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory expires at the end of 2024. Therefore, Slovakia and other EU countries are starting to look for alternative sources, one of which is Azerbaijan.

Russia said it was ready to continue supplying gas through Ukraine, but because of the war, Ukraine refused to participate in negotiations with Russia on gas exports through its territories.

Slovakian company SPP said it has diversified gas purchase contracts with BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Eni and RWE and has up to 150% of its customersʼ consumption available as a safety cushion. SPP said Slovakia has also diversified transit supply routes in case transit via the pipeline through Ukraine is disrupted.

• Slovakia and Hungary have also had problems with Russian oil supplies this year. Babel reported on this in detail here.

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