The Slovak prime minister has urged Brussels to stop ignoring the bloc\u2019s \u2018enormous economic and political problems\u2019<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s constant focus on Ukraine is masking its inability to confront the bloc\u2019s \u201cfundamental\u201d problems, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a post on X.
\nAt the European Council (EC) summit next week, EU leaders are expected to focus on defense spending, military cooperation, and continued support for Kiev.
\nOn Wednesday, Fico said he was \u201cmore and more convinced\u201d that by \u201cconstantly discussing Ukraine, we in the EU are covering up our inability to deal with our most fundamental challenges and problems\u201d and noted he had raised the issue with EC President Antonio Costa.
\n\u201cI am not interested in dealing with new sanctions packages against Russia until I see, in the conclusions of the EC summit, political instructions for the European Commission on how to address the crisis in the automotive industry and the high energy prices that are making the European economy completely uncompetitive,\u201d the Slovakian leader said.
\nHe added that Bratislava will submit more concrete proposals to the summit concerning the automotive sector and energy prices than those currently contained in draft conclusions.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
EU \u2018shooting itself in the knee\u2019 \u2013 Slovak PM<\/p>\n
\u201cI refuse to let such serious issues be handled in the EC conclusions with general phrases, while detailed decisions and positions are devoted to aid for Ukraine and support for the war,\u201d he stressed.
\nSlovakia\u2019s economy is deeply tied to car manufacturing, a sector facing pressure from EU green policies and global competition. While Brussels has called for a full phase-out of Russian energy imports by 2027, Slovakia remains heavily dependent on Russian gas and crude under long-term contracts.
\nMost EU member states insist that Western aid to Ukraine should continue and support rapid military buildup, citing the so-called \u2018Russian threat.\u2019 The Kremlin has rejected these claims as \u201cnonsense\u201d and accused Western governments of using them to justify increasing military spending.
\nUnlike many EU nations, Slovakia has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine, warned against its membership in NATO, and repeatedly voiced opposition to EU sanctions on Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Slovak prime minister has urged Brussels to stop ignoring the bloc\u2019s \u2018enormous economic and political problems\u2019 The European Union\u2019s constant focus on Ukraine is masking its inability to confront…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t