Robert Fico: EU sanctions policy against Russia is ineffective

The European Union's sanctions policy against Russia is not working, says Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

"How many of these sanctions packages should there be? One hundred? Two hundred? When will we say: finally, this is successful? We convince that the sanctions are successful, but we constantly accept new ones, new ones, and new ones. If we had stated after the second package that enough is enough, this is a success, then I would say: yes, the sanctions made sense, but it seems that it is not working," Fico said at a press conference following negotiations with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria in Sofia on Friday. Their press conference was broadcast by the Slovak TV channel TA3.

Fico said that he does not believe in sanctions policy, but is now a rational and pragmatic player.

“We are part of the European Union, I can’t stop someone from giving 90 billion euros as a military loan to Ukraine, but I can make sure that we don’t participate in it. That’s what we did,” he said.

He rejected the black-and-white vision of the world currently espoused by the European Union.

“If among the sanctions there are sanctions that jeopardize the national interests of Slovakia, then we will not support such sanctions,” Fico emphasized.

According to him, such sanctions, unacceptable for Slovakia, include, for example, a ban on the import of nuclear fuel from the Russian Federation, which could jeopardize the operation of nuclear power plants in the republic.