Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has asked the country's electricity transmission network operator to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, Reuters reported. "Starting today, if the Ukrainian side asks Slovakia for help to stabilize the Ukrainian energy network, it will not receive it," Fico said in a statement. According to him, the measure will be lifted only after oil transit to Slovakia resumes. The agency recalled that Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since January 27, when, according to Kiev, a Russian drone hit oil pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Electricity from Hungary and Slovakia accounts for about 70 percent of Ukraine's imports and is of utmost importance for the country, half of whose electricity generation has been destroyed or seriously damaged by Russian missile strikes, BTA writes.
The Slovak publication “Slovak Spectator“ presented key facts about electricity supply connections between Slovakia and Ukraine. Thus, Ukraine is the second largest electricity customer in Slovakia, after Hungary. Total Slovak electricity exports in 2025 were 18.3 terawatt hours, of which exports to Ukraine accounted for 2.9 or about 16% of total exports. Electricity imports from Slovakia cover approximately 18% of Ukraine's consumption.
Robert Fico himself announced his intention on Sunday evening in a video posted on his Facebook profile, stating that the step would be taken if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not allow the resumption of Russian oil supplies to Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline by Monday. "If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells us to buy gas and oil elsewhere than Russia - even though it is more difficult and expensive and we lose a lot of money - then we have the right to respond," he said. "If the Ukrainian president does not start oil deliveries to Slovakia on Monday, I will ask Slovak companies to stop the emergency electricity supply to Ukraine on the same day," he added, recalling that Slovakia has been helping Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
"About 180,000 Ukrainians live in our country, we provide them with humanitarian aid, we organize joint government meetings with them. Slovakia does much more for Ukraine than other countries," the Slovak prime minister recalled. According to Fico, Zelensky does not want to understand Slovakia's peaceful attitude and is behaving maliciously towards it because its eastern neighbor does not support the continuation of the war. According to the Slovak prime minister, Kiev has already stopped gas supplies, which has caused Slovakia 500 million euros in damage annually, and now oil supplies, which will cause additional damage and logistical difficulties.
At the same time, the Slovak government is trying to calm the population. Defense Minister Robert Kaliniak said that the oil product market is not in danger and transit could resume in the coming days. Although he did not specify the exact route, he noted that transportation through Croatia is much more expensive than before, so oil could also arrive in Slovakia via a roundabout route, via Italy and the Czech Republic.
If Slovakia is not a respectable partner country for Ukraine, it will have to take measures, such as stopping electricity supplies to Ukraine, said on Monday the Minister of the Interior and the chairman of the ruling coalition party “Voice-Social Democracy“ Matus Šutaj Eštok. "These funds are incomparable to what we are losing due to the blocking of gas transit to Slovakia from Ukraine," he added, referring to the lost benefits.
The Slovak National Party (SNS), which is part of the ruling coalition, fully supported Fico. "If it is confirmed that the Ukrainians are blocking oil supplies in the same way as they blocked gas supplies, it is unthinkable that Ukraine, which has received over 4 billion euros in aid from Slovakia, will blackmail us politically," said SNS leader Ivan Danko.
The country's President Peter Pellegrini tried to take a conciliatory stance, the internet portal “Bumm.sk“ notes, emphasizing the importance of diplomacy in energy transit. He insisted on convening urgent negotiations to restore supplies of Ukrainian oil to Slovakia and Slovak electricity to Ukraine.
However, the opposition has sharply criticized the government's actions. If electricity supplies to Ukraine are indeed cut off, it would be tantamount to treason, said Michal Šimečka, leader of the opposition party "Progressive Slovakia". According to him, the decision could further damage the country's reputation as an EU member. "Threats that we will cut off electricity supplies are a special Slovak gift to Ukraine on the anniversary of the shameful Russian aggression," said senior party member Miroslav Korčok.
According to William Karas, deputy chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement, the cabinet is not pursuing Slovak, but rather foreign interests. He also drew attention to the fact that although Slovakia had previously received Russian oil at a 30 percent lower price, this had not affected fuel prices and urged the country to seek new, independent energy sources in its own interest.
The Slovak Internet portal SME criticized the Slovak Prime Minister's attitude towards Ukraine: “Fico is fully aware of all the facts. His argument that Slovakia is a “proud and sovereign nation“ and that he himself is a “proud and sovereign Slovak“ does not hold up here. What is happening is neither sovereign, nor proud, nor national. Proud and sovereign people help the weak, do not provoke them in difficult times, work together against the attackers and understand who is the victim and who is the aggressor. Fico's behavior is simply shameless and immoral. He behaves like a gangster not only in domestic politics, but also in foreign policy. It is a pity that Fico creates such an image of Slovakia abroad“, notes the author of the article Josef Filo.
“Fico bet on the wrong horse. Slovakia is to blame for its own problems“, comments the newspaper “Dennik“. “Dependence on Russian oil at a time when it is attacking Ukraine is not only immoral, but also impractical and risky due to the possibility of a response“, notes the author of the article Jana Šemes.
“Black Monday: Zelensky will never forget this day. Fico did today what no one dared before. Slovakia has dealt a fatal blow to Ukraine,“ notes the Hungarian publication “Vilaggazdásag“.
Ukraine condemned the “ultimatums and blackmail“. In a statement published in “Ex“, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sharply characterized the actions as “irresponsible“, saying that they risk exacerbating the energy crisis that followed months of Russian air strikes on Ukrainian networks and power plants, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without heating and electricity in the middle of winter. “Such actions, in the context of massive and targeted Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and Moscow's attempts to deprive Ukrainians of electricity, heating and gas during extreme cold, are provocative, irresponsible and threaten the energy security of the entire region. "In this way, the governments of Hungary and Slovakia are not only playing into the aggressor's hands, but also harming their own energy companies, which supply energy on a commercial basis," the statement said.
Due to the physical properties of electricity and EU rules, it is unthinkable for any member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) - including Hungary and Slovakia - to simply stop its electricity supplies in any direction, the Hungarian newspaper “Nepsovo“ commented, citing experts. The Ukrainian network is also part of the organization. According to ENTSO-E rules, interstate electricity transmission, according to a specific scenario, can be interrupted only in truly critical emergency situations, and in addition, electricity (passing through Slovakia in particular) can originate from a third country, which means that such a step could also violate international treaties. Shutting them down for the purpose of exerting political pressure is prohibited and impossible, and this has never happened in the 75-year history of ENTSO-E and its legal predecessors. In the event of a political order, the Slovak or Hungarian system operator can report its intention to interrupt to the ENTSO-E headquarters, from where the response would probably be an explicit ban. Violating this would be a violation of the statute and the contracts, the newspaper's experts comment.
The probable termination of emergency power supplies from Slovakia will not affect the situation in the unified power system of Ukraine, the press service of “Ukrenergo“ reported on its “Telegram“ channel. “The last time Ukraine requested emergency assistance from Slovakia was more than a month ago and in a very limited amount. In general, emergency assistance from the Slovak direction has been provided to the unified power system of Ukraine quite rarely. We are talking about short-term supplies“, “Ukrenergo“ noted. The company also noted that official documents on the unilateral termination of the agreement on mutual provision of emergency assistance by the Slovak system operator have not yet been submitted to “Ukrenergo“. “There is no talk yet of any restrictions on commercial imports of electricity from Slovakia. The allocated capacity of the interstate crossings is used in accordance with the results of the auctions“, the Ukrainian company added.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico does not have the technical ability to unilaterally interrupt emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, therefore his statement is purely political, energy expert Gennady Ryabtsev told the Ukrainian UNIAN agency. He said that any attempts at such intervention violate EU regulations. “The organization not only prohibits such interference, but also interprets it as a violation for which responsibility must be taken“, he noted.