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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened to cut financial aid to more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees due to the escalation of the dispute with Ukraine over Russian gas supplies.
January 1 Kyiv blocked the gas pipeline which was used for decades to supply Central Europe with Russian natural gas.
Slovakia was the main point of entry and now the country stands to lose millions of euros in transit fees.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has calculated Last month, there were 130,530 Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia out of 6,813,900 in the world.
Fico – who’s who in December made an unexpected visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin – assessed Kiev’s move as “sabotage”.
The prime minister of the EU country said that he will propose to stop the export of electricity to Ukraine, as well as to “sharply reduce” financial support to Ukrainians who have found refuge in Slovakia.
He said there was no risk that Slovakia would suffer from a gas shortage, as it had already made alternative arrangements.
But Fico added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to turn off the taps would save Slovakia 500 million euros (£415 million; $518 million) in transit fees from other countries.
Last month, Zelensky accused Fico of helping Putin “finance the war and weaken Ukraine.”
“Fico involves Slovakia in Russia’s attempts to cause even more suffering to Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president said.
Poland has offered to support Kiev if Slovakia stops exporting electricity – a supply that is crucial for Ukraine, whose power plants are regularly attacked by Russia.
Poland’s government called the shutdown “another victory” against Moscow, while the European Commission said the EU had prepared for the change and most countries had coped.
Moldova, which is not in the EU, is already experiencing a deficit.
Russia can still send gas to Hungary, Turkey and Serbia through the Turkish Stream pipeline through the Black Sea.
