A meeting was held on Monday in Ankara between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. At a joint press conference following the gathering, Fico stated that he had arrived in Turkey with a larger Slovak delegation, aiming to strengthen the friendship and partnership between Slovakia and Turkey, as reported by the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Fahrettin Altun, the communications director of the Turkish President, had earlier announced that the signing of bilateral agreements in various fields would be on the agenda, elevating the relations between the two countries to a strategic partnership level.
According to sources, Fico criticized the decision of Ukraine to stop the gas transit from Russia to Europe, stating that not only Slovakia but the entire European Union would be affected. The topic was also discussed during his meeting with President Erdogan, who expressed his willingness to help his country in this matter, as the Slovak Premier put it.
“I would like to welcome the position of the President, who proposed an alternative: the communication between the Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Denisa Saková and the relevant Turkish minister” Fico said. “This could enable the Slovak Republic to continue receiving gas from Russian state territory in cooperation with the Russian partner.”
Erdogan, in turn, announced that he expected to hold a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to discuss the supply of gas to Slovakia. He was quoted as saying, “Since Ukraine has stopped gas supplies to Slovakia, I said, let’s finally cover Slovakia’s gas needs by agreeing with Russia.”
The agreement on the gas transit from Russia to Europe had expired on December 31, and Kiev refused to extend it. As a result, the Russian energy company Gazprom had to stop the transit on January 1 at 8:00 a.m. Moscow time.
Fico accused the Ukrainian government of being driven by a political whim and deliberately harming the interests of Bratislava and Brussels. The European Commission had previously stated that neither the Western sanctions against Russia nor EU law prevented Ukraine from continuing the gas transit. Fico also threatened to cut off the power supply to Ukraine and restrict support for Ukrainian citizens currently residing in Slovakia.