Politico reports details that Slovakia-Russia meetings suspended after 2022 are to resume

Slovakia and Russia are set to resume meetings of an intergovernmental commission which were suspended following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with energy supplies, nuclear fuel and the treatment of Russian athletes among the key issues.

Source: Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation Politico, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The intergovernmental commission, which deals with economic, scientific and technical cooperation issues, has been inactive since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Its last meeting was held in Bratislava on 12 November 2021.

Politico obtained a note from the Russian government written by Russia's Science Minister Valery Falkov, who is on the EU sanctions list. The document states that Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár agreed during a video call on 20 August to hold a meeting of the Russian-Slovak intergovernmental commission in Moscow.

Prime Minister Robert Fico said on 14 October that the meeting was scheduled for 25 November. The Russian note, dated 10 September, had initially proposed a different date: 26-27 October.

Asked about the possible agenda for the commission meeting, Slovakia's Foreign Ministry referred Politico to Blanár's public statements following the 20 August call.

"We pursue a policy in all directions and maintain dialogue with all countries that are interested in pragmatic cooperation with us for the benefit of the Slovak Republic's national interests," Blanár said at the time.

According to the Russian document, during the August video conference Blanár expressed Slovakia's opposition to the EU's gradual phase-out of Russian gas imports and asked for the issue of supplies to be discussed at the meeting in Moscow. Slovak representatives also stressed the importance of continuing Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline and welcomed regular supplies of nuclear fuel for Slovak power plants.

The agenda for next month's meeting extends beyond energy cooperation. The two sides plan to discuss setting up working groups on culture, tourism, agriculture and environmental protection as well as the status of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Bratislava.

Blanár also expressed disagreement with what the note described as "discrimination against Russian athletes" at international competitions, saying the issue would be discussed at the commission meeting.

Background:

• Fico recently said he does not want war to come to Slovakia "because of some Article 5" of NATO.
• Fico also accused the West of having "needlessly added fuel to the fire" for more than four years in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, thereby supposedly provoking a conflict between Russia and NATO.

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