Slovakia threatens EU with new lawsuit over possible Russian oil ban

Fico's statement about a possible lawsuit over oil

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said the republic is ready to turn to the EU court if Brussels decides to completely halt Russian oil supplies. «If a decision comes that oil supplies must also be terminated for good, we will apparently challenge that decision in the appropriate court as well,» he was quoted as saying by Gazeta.Ru citing RIA Novosti. The same was reported by Life.ru.

The already filed lawsuit over gas and the REPowerEU plan

Fico recalled that Slovakia has already filed a lawsuit against the European Commission over the REPowerEU program, which provides for abandoning Russian energy resources. Under the approved plan, the EU intends to stop imports of Russian liquefied natural gas from the beginning of 2027 and pipeline gas by the autumn of that year; earlier the union set a goal of completely abandoning Russian fossil fuels, including gas, oil and coal, by the end of 2027.

Bratislava's position and the importance of oil for the country

According to Life.ru, Bratislava went to the EU court in April. Slovak authorities believe the decision to ban Russian gas was made in violation of EU principles: in Fico's view, it amounts to a sanctions measure that would have required the consent of all member states, yet the document was adopted by qualified majority vote despite objections from Slovakia and Hungary. The oil issue is especially significant for the country: the Slovnaft refinery in Bratislava, owned by Hungary's MOL group, depends on Russian oil delivered via the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine. Fico has also previously warned of a sharp rise in gas prices after a complete abandonment of Russian supplies and noted that Slovakia's current contract for Russian gas runs until 2034.

Context of bilateral relations

Against the backdrop of the dispute with Brussels, in October Russian Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov said at a meeting of the joint Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission that Russia is interested in maintaining stable ties with Slovakia in gas and oil supplies and sees opportunities to expand cooperation. It was also previously reportedthat Slovakia intends to discuss with the European Commission the continuation of gas supplies from Russia. For now, the EU has not adopted a decision to completely halt oil supplies — Fico's statement concerns a possible scenario, not an already effective ban.