Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to cut aid to more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees as a dispute with Ukraine over Russian gas supplies escalates.
On January 1st Kiev shut down a pipeline. which was used for decades to supply Russian natural gas to Central Europe.
Slovakia was the main point of entry and is now costing the country millions of euros in transit fees.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has estimated Last month, 130,530 Ukrainian refugees were in Slovakia out of 6,813,900 worldwide.
Fico – which in December Made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. – Called Kyiv’s move “sabotage”.
The prime minister of an EU state said he would propose to freeze electricity exports to Ukraine and “sharply reduce” financial aid for Ukrainians seeking asylum in Slovakia.
Slovakia itself is not at risk of gas shortages, he said, as it has already made alternative arrangements.
But Fico added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to close the pipelines would deprive Slovakia of 500 million euros (£415m; $518m) in transit fees from other countries.
He said his party was ready to discuss “stopping electricity supplies” and “significantly reducing support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia”.
“The only alternative for an independent Slovakia is to demand the renewal of the corridor or a compensation mechanism that replaces the loss in public finances,” he added.
Last month, Zelensky accused Fico of helping Putin “fund the war and undermine Ukraine.”
“Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia’s efforts to inflict more pain on Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president said.
Poland has offered to help Kiev if Slovakia cuts off its electricity exports – supplies that are crucial to Ukraine, whose power plants are under regular attack by Russia.
The Polish government called the cut-off “another victory” against Moscow, while the European Commission said the EU had prepared for the change and most states could cope.
Moldova, which is not in the EU, is already suffering from shortages.
Russia can still send gas to Hungary, Turkey and Serbia via the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea.