BRATISLAVA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Sunday that Slovakia is prepared to take over the baton from Hungary, if necessary, to block the European Union (EU)'s loan to Ukraine.
Fico said on social media that he will call on the European Commission to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow a visit to the site where the Druzhba oil pipeline is said to be damaged.
He said oil supplies through Ukraine are vital, but the Ukrainian president doesn't intend to continue the supplies, which will cause huge losses both in terms of commodity prices and transport costs.
"On Tuesday morning, I'm set to meet the European Commission president in Paris to discuss this issue and ask her a simple question: How long will the European Commission continue to prioritise the interests of Ukraine, a non-EU member state, over the vital national interests of Slovakia and Hungary, both EU member states?" Fico said.
Oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary were suspended following an attack on Jan. 27, Ukrainian officials said, blaming Russia for the pipeline damage. Slovakia later declared an oil emergency and claimed that Ukraine was deliberately stopping oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline.
Hungary also responded in February by blocking the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia and a planned 90-billion-euro (106-billion-U.S. dollar) military loan to Ukraine, citing Kyiv's suspension of crude oil deliveries, according to Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's minister of foreign affairs and trade. ■