23 minutes ago23 minutes agoSlovakia halts emergency power supplies to Ukraine over oil spat
Slovakia has cut off emergency electricity supplies to neighboring
Ukraine as a dispute over Russian oil supplies escalates.
"From today, *if the Ukrainian *side turns to Slovakia with a request for assistance in stabilizing the Ukrainian energy network, it will not receive such assistance," Prime Minister
Robert Fico said in a statement.
"This is the first reciprocal step that the Slovak government is *authorized to take without violating any international rules and obligations."
Slovakia — and neighboring
Hungary have accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying the resumption of Russian oil supplies via the *Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says has been damaged by
Russian military action.
But Bratislava and Budapest have effectively accused Kyiv of attempting to "blackmail" the two
European Union member states which are considered closest to
Moscow and least enthusiastic about supporting Ukraine.
"If the Ukrainian side continues to harm Slovakia's interests in the supply of strategic raw materials, the Slovak government will also reconsider its previous constructive stance on Ukraine's membership in the EU and prepare further measures," Fico added.
According to the Kyiv-based energy consultancy ExPro, Hungary and Slovakia accounted for 68% of Ukraine's imported power this month, while a recent survey by Ukraine's European Business Association showed that outages had made life difficult for 80% of the country's companies.
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-update.../live-76082184