Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, reportedly said that he will not agree to the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, Bloomberg reported over the weekend.
The European Commission has proposed a plan that would allow EU governments to use up to €185 billion – the majority of Russia’s sovereign assets currently frozen in Europe – to support Ukraine, without formally confiscating them.
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The loan would swap Moscow’s frozen assets in Europe for EU bonds of equal value, and Ukraine would not repay it until it receives compensation from Russia for the damage caused by the war.
If confirmed, the blessing could help unlock a breakthrough with Belgium, which holds most of Moscow’s frozen assets and has opposed the plan, citing fears of legal and financial retaliation by Moscow.
Belgium has found kindred spirits in that regard in Bratislava and Budapest.
“Slovakia won’t take part in any legal or financial schemes to seize frozen assets if those funds would be spent on military costs in Ukraine,” Fico said, adding that using Russian assets to benefit Ukraine would only fuel the war.
“Do we want to end the war or are we stoking it? We are going to give €140 billion to Ukraine to keep the war going. So what does that mean? That the war will go on for at least another two years,” Fico said.
EU officials have confirmed that the issue remains on the agenda, with a final decision expected before the end of the year.
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Reuters, citing an unnamed “US source familiar with the situation,” said the plan received Washington’s blessing.
The US “absolutely supports (the EU) and the steps they’re taking right now to be in a position to make use of those assets as a tool,” the person reportedly told Reuters.
In September, Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin told Fico that he was pleased with what he called Slovakia’s “independent” foreign policy line, and suggested that Bratislava retaliate against Ukraine by cutting off gas and electricity supplies.
Putin met Fico in Beijing, where the Slovak leader was the only European Union head of government attending World War II commemorations.
Fico has long criticized Kyiv and resisted tougher EU sanctions on Moscow, arguing they threaten Slovakia’s energy security.
“We highly value the independent foreign policy that you and your government are pursuing,” Putin told Fico, as reported by Russian state media RIA Novosti. “Ukraine receives a significant volume of energy resources through its neighbors in eastern Europe. Shut off gas supplies that go in reverse. Shut off electricity supplies, and they will immediately understand there are limits to their behavior,” Putin said.
Last week, Politico reported that Hungary is planning to forge an anti-Ukrainian bloc in the European Union with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The new Czech government has also said it wants to revitalize the cooperation between the four Visegrád states – although the fourth country in that group, Poland, has shown no interest in such plans.