EU Leaders Call for Ukraine Gas Solution on Slovakia’s Push

(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders called for stepping up efforts to resolve the Ukraine gas transit issue, a win for Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who had threatened to veto conclusions of the bloc’s emergency summit if the matter wasn’t addressed.

In return, the Slovak leader backed the EU’s plans for regional defense and support for Ukraine. Fico has refused to support Ukraine militarily as it fights back against Russia’s invasion. 

Fico is seeking an alternative to Russian gas flows via Ukraine, halted at the beginning of the year. Slovakia’s state gas utility, Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel AS, is one of the few remaining entities in Central Europe with a long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom PJSC.

The Russia-friendly leader has campaigned to persuade Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to restart transit, citing higher energy prices for his country, the loss of transit fee revenues and economic consequences for the wider European economy. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU’s most Russia-friendly leader, refused to sign off on the conclusions but was side-stepped by the other 26 member nations.

Still, the language of the summit’s conclusions does not signify any real progress on the gas gas transit issue yet. 

The final text is milder than the preliminary draft. That text said the gas transit issue, “including its resumption” was to be addressed, according to people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be named because of the private nature of the information.

The European Commission’s final version said it was ”taking into consideration the concerns raised by Slovakia.”

Slovakia, Ukraine, and the Commission have already held several rounds of talks about the issues without any success.

Currently, about 10.5 million cubic meters of gas flow daily from Slovakia to Ukraine. According to Fico, this gas comes from Czech and Swiss companies, “95% of which is of Russian origin.”

Fico left Thursday’s summit in Brussels without making a statement, but posted on his Facebook page: “We’re going to fight.”

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