Slovakia will block European Union sanctions against Russia that harm its national interests, Prime Minister Robert Fitzo said on Sunday.
Fitzo said “Slovakia wants to remain constructive in the bloc, but called the resolution a political tool with a strong message.”
“If there are sanctions that will harm us, I will never vote in favour of them,” Fitzo told a news conference.
Slovakia’s legislature, the National Council, passed a resolution on June 5 recommending that the government not vote in international organisations for new sanctions against Russia. Fifty-one out of 76 deputies present voted in favour.
The resolution is not binding, the government can ignore it. However, earlier the country’s Prime Minister Robert Fitzo opposed the tightening of the sanctions regime and demanded that the EU not hinder Bratislava’s purchases of Russian energy resources.
Michal Šimečka, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party, said the document reinforces the country’s isolation within the EU. “The government is responsible for the fact that nobody is talking to Slovakia,” he said, commenting on the outcome of the vote.