Ukraine’s closest ally refuses to lift its grain embargo on Ukraine
The new EU-Ukraine trade agreement should erase all unilateral restrictions from November, yet Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary hold on to their own bans.
Browsing Tag
Slovakia
179 posts
Slovakia’s Fico will skip Moscow’s parade but still lay flowers in the Kremlin
The EU's last openly pro-Russian leader reframes his 9 May visit as a "pilgrimage for peace." The flowers at the Kremlin wall stay on the schedule.
Slovakia held EU sanctions on Russia hostage to Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine just turned the tap back on
Slovak FM Blanár had stated the previous day that Bratislava would not block the 20th EU sanctions package against Russia once deliveries resumed. Russian oil is expected to reach Slovakia tomorrow.
Druzhba pipeline restart this week after Russian attack could unlock €90 billion in EU aid for Ukraine
Hungary's precondition is being met, funding should follow.
Pro-Russian Fico complains Latvia and Lithuania blocked his flight to Moscow for Putin’s 9 May parade (updated)
Slovakia's PM promises to find another route to Russia, and promises to block the EU's sanctions against Russia.
Slovenia’s new parliament speaker claims he’s not pro-Russian, plans Moscow visit, promises referendum on NATO exit
With Orbán voted out by Hungary in a landslide, Slovakia's Fico now has a potential EU ally in Stevanović — Slovenia's newly elected parliament speaker who backs lifting anti-Russian sanctions.
Politico: Fico is first in line for Orbán’s disruptor crown — but Brussels has four more leaders to worry about
Fico threatened to veto Ukraine's €90 billion loan. Babiš demanded a carveout. Meloni told leaders she understood Orbán. Radev called Ukraine doomed. Janša is the only one who supports Kyiv — and he may not even form a government.
Fico joins Orbán in demanding the EU lift Russian energy sanctions — a week before Hungary’s election that could end Orbán’s 16-year rule
After a call with Orbán on 4 April, Slovakia's PM claimed Brussels must immediately reopen dialogue with Russia and restore Druzhba pipeline flows — revenues that directly fund Moscow's war against Ukraine.
Szijjártó told Russia’s deputy minister he’d removed 72 entities from EU sanctions — then asked Moscow to write his arguments for removing more
The detail, buried in leaked transcripts from a call with Russia's deputy energy minister, reveals the full scope of Hungary's collusion: not just delisting oligarchs on request, but seeking Kremlin-authored justifications for Budapest's own EU lobbying.
EU presses ahead to unlock €90 billion for Ukraine and new Russia sanctions – but Kallas says “no good news” yet
Hungary's veto of the loan and 20th sanctions package, in place since February, remains unresolved – with the European Council's June summit now the next realistic window.
US and Czech citizens placed in pretrial detention over arson at plant supplying Ukraine — Czech intelligence asks if Russia used pro-Palestinian group as cover
A court in Pardubice remanded two of the three detained suspects; one shouted "Free Palestine" as police escorted him into the courthouse, despite their crime's target having nothing to do with Israel.
EU sidelines Hungary in closed-door meetings as diplomats cite suspected Kremlin back-channel
Hungary's government has been feeding Russia real-time information from closed EU meetings, a European security official told the Washington Post
EU summit backs Ukraine’s €90 billion loan and opens all accession clusters — but Orbán and Fico still block the money
25 EU leaders formally endorsed Ukraine's loan disbursement by early April and invited the Council to open all EU accession clusters without delay. Hungary and Slovakia declined to support the conclusions.
Czech Republic steps in—Prague offers to send oil to Slovakia via reverse Druzhba flow, but not Russian
Emergency plan ready, and $47 million investment could supply tens of thousands of tons monthly.
The fabricated crises in Transcarpathia that help win Hungarian elections—and block Ukraine’s path to Europe.
From a 2018 firebombing to 2026 troops, Budapest has run the same playbook against Ukraine's west—with Russian fingerprints at every turn.
Fico: “Slovakia is ready to take over the baton from Hungary, if necessary” — on blocking EU’s Ukraine loan and Russia sanctions
The current go-to blocker of both the loan and sanctions is Hungarian PM Orbán, who may lose the April election.
Slovakia formally terminates emergency electricity contract with Ukraine — Kyiv had already been refused when it asked
Slovakia's state grid operator confirmed Ukraine last received emergency power in January and was turned away when it requested more.
“Present for Putin”: Slovakia cuts electricity flows for millions of Ukrainians amid Russia’s winter terror and war’s fourth anniversary
Slovakia halts emergency power to Ukraine one day before war anniversary, blaming Kyiv for pipeline Russia bombed.
Slovakia can’t legally cut power to Ukraine under EU rules—any blackout move would break ENTSO-E deal
While ENTSO-E rules block legal cutoffs, experts warn Bratislava could still attempt political pressure that plays into Russia’s strategy of energy blackmail.
Hungary will survive without Russian oil—but Orbán’s regime will not
The money trail from Moscow to MOL to Brussels explains why