Slovakia will discuss supplies of Russian energy resources in Moscow next week, resuming a co-operation process that was suspended after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is reported by Reuters, citing Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Slovakia’s foreign ministry said that a meeting of the Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission for economic, scientific and technical co-operation will be held in Moscow on Monday, 26 October. It will be the commission’s first meeting since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Nuclear energy will be discussed, as well as agriculture, the environment, sport and culture.
“The main topic will be energy and the possibility of co-operation in ensuring supplies of strategic resources. The Slovak side is also interested in discussing gas supplies and the continuation of oil deliveries,” Slovakia’s foreign ministry said.
The ministry also stressed that, while developing relations with Russia, the country “continues to base its approach on membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance and on fulfilling the obligations that arise from that membership”. At the same time, Slovakia is seeking to create space for dialogue with Moscow.
Slovakia continues to buy Russian oil and gas. At the same time, under a European Union plan aimed at ending dependence on Russian energy resources, the country must stop purchasing Russian gas by the end of 2027.
- Moscow’s rapprochement with Bratislava comes after Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April. Before that, he had been one of Vladimir Putin’s closest partners in Europe. Even before the election, Orbán restarted the work of the Hungarian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic co-operation. In December, Moscow and Budapest also agreed a 12-point plan to expand interaction in energy, trade and culture.
- Slovakia remains dependent on Russian oil and gas. Fico argues that abandoning these resources would lead to higher costs. During a meeting with Putin in Moscow on 9 May, the Russian president promised to meet Slovakia’s energy needs.