Slovakia finally agrees to new EU sanctions against Russia!

Slovakia finally agrees to new EU sanctions against Russia!

In a surprise twist, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced that Slovakia is lifting its blockade on new EU sanctions against Russia. Fico announced that Slovakia would agree to the 18th sanctions package on Friday. This decision is particularly significant as the blockade has previously been described as "counterproductive" to Slovakia's interests within the EU, reports Black Forest messenger.

The background to this blockade was a dispute over an EU regulation that envisages a complete ban on gas imports from Russia from 2028. Fico previously called for a waiver to maintain gas supplies until 2034. These demands led to the failure of an agreement within the EU foreign ministers who met on July 15, 2025 - a circumstance that put pressure not only on the Slovak government, but also on other member states such as Malta ZDF today reported.

A package of sanctions with consequences

Today's sanctions, included in the new package, aim to increase pressure on Russia to make progress in ceasefire talks in the Ukraine conflict. The package includes further punitive measures against individuals and organizations as well as a ban on transactions on out-of-service Nordstream gas pipelines. In addition, there is discussion about adjusting the price cap for Russian oil decided in 2022, which is of great importance for Europe in order to reduce Russian oil export revenues, as the daily news reported.

Fico has so far maintained close ties with Russia and met with President Vladimir Putin at the end of 2024. This raises questions about how the new approval to sanction Russia now aligns with the aspirations at the time. Critics of the Slovak government point out that, contrary to Fico's protestations, the health of the Slovak economy has suffered severely from gas import bans in the past, which would have justified its initial blockade.

What's next?

Now that Slovakia has given up its resistance, a special meeting of the permanent representatives of the EU member states is expected later on Friday. This could be the key to quickly putting the new sanctions into effect. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has already regretted that the agreement has so far failed and emphasized that the ball is now in Slovakia's court. In Brussels she expected the newly planned measures to be implemented quickly.

Meanwhile, other European countries, such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, are also continuing their plans to supply weapons to Ukraine, including exploring the purchase of “Patriot” air defense systems, further inflaming the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe. The purchase of two additional “Patriot” systems by Germany is just one of many measures that will be on the agenda in the coming days to support Ukraine in its efforts for security and peace.