Fico accused Brussels of unfair treatment regarding fuel prices — DPA
The Slovak government has rejected Brussels' demand to abolish discriminatory practices at gas stations that charge different prices for domestically and foreign-registered vehicles.
This was reported by the DPA news agency.
Bratislava insists on the need to protect the domestic market amid global energy instability caused by the war in Iran.
On March 18, the Slovak government introduced a special regime for the sale of diesel fuel and gasoline for a period of 30 days. The decision was prompted by the rapid rise in global oil prices.
To prevent “gasoline tourism” from neighboring EU countries, Slovakia has set significantly higher prices for drivers of vehicles with foreign license plates.
The European Commission sharply criticized these measures, calling them “highly discriminatory” and in violation of the principles of the EU single market.
A European Commission spokesperson stated that Brussels is considering filing lawsuits against Robert Fico’s government if the rules are not brought into line with European legislation.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called the European Commission’s demands “absolutely unfair toward Slovakia” and hinted at the possibility of extending the restrictions beyond the 30-day deadline.
He claims that the stability of supplies is currently ensured solely through the use of state strategic reserves.
Instead of making concessions to Brussels, Fico put forward a counter-demand: the European Commission must pressure Ukraine to resume the transit of Russian oil.
According to the Slovak prime minister, it is the resumption of full-scale oil pumping from Russia that will render any price restrictions unnecessary.
“Slovakia remains heavily dependent on Russian oil supplies,” experts note, reminding that the country has a special exemption from the EU sanctions package.
As a reminder, Fico stated that Slovakia does not support Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU.
Fico also announced an agreement with the European Commission on resuming operations of the “Druzhba” pipeline.
