The prime minister threatens Ukraine that Slovakia can suspend electricity supplies and all humanitarian aid. According to him, this would be a reaction to Kyiv’s decision not to extend the transit agreement with Russia, thanks to which Russian gas flowed through Ukrainian territory to Slovakia. The contract concluded for a fixed period ceased to be valid at the turn of the year and Kyiv did not renew it in order to strangle the aggressor’s financial resources.
Robert Fico, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) at a meeting of the European Affairs Committee. The meeting of the Eurocommittee was called by the opposition, which wants from Fico an explanation of the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as well as information about the Slovak Republic’s next steps resulting from the stoppage of Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
Fico discussed the possibility of re-transiting Russian gas with representatives of the European Commission in Brussels. According to the Slovak Prime Minister, Energy Commissioner Dan Jörgensen also perceives the situation as a “serious problem”. After returning home, Fico told Volodymyr Zelensky that Slovakia could limit electricity supplies to Ukraine, for which the Ukrainian president accused him of opening a new energy front.
On Thursday, January 9, Prime Minister Fico emphasized that if the gas situation is not resolved, in addition to stopping electricity supplies, Slovakia could also stop all humanitarian aid or decide on a significant reduction or complete withdrawal of benefits for Ukrainian war refugees in Slovakia.
How much aid did Fico’s government provide to Ukraine?
Therefore, Pravda investigated how Fico’s government actually helped Ukraine since it took office on October 25, 2023. As we know, the new cabinet has pledged that Slovakia will no longer send any military equipment to its eastern neighbors. Military aid from Bratislava ended in autumn 2023, when the government did not approve the fourteenth package of military aid worth 40.3 million euros. The donation proposal was prepared by the official government of Ľudovít Ódor. From January 2022 to the end of October 2023 Slovakia’s total military aid was at the level of 700 million euros.
However, the new government did not increase humanitarian aid. Most recently, Bratislava is to donate demining equipment and various equipment used in removing the consequences of war to Kyiv. The government justifies this by saying that it is material aid that is exclusively non-lethal and humanitarian in nature.
In December 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs Blanár approved a financial contribution of 750,000 euros for the purchase of two pieces of Božena 4+ demining systems. He referred to Ukraine as the most mined country in the world, which poses a huge danger to the local civilian population.
At the beginning of last year, based on Ukraine’s request for humanitarian aid as well as the European Commission’s call for member states not to relent in demonstrating solidarity with the civilian population affected by the war conflict, the Slovak Republic announced that it would provide Ukraine with humanitarian aid in the total value of 203,492 euros. The Ministry of the Interior informed that it is sending power plants, heaters, clothes and first aid kits to the attacked country as well as food and bottled water in a total weight of 21 tons.
In the second half of January, Prime Minister Fico himself visited the city of Uzhgorod, where he met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal and, among other things, wanted to agree on what exactly the Ukrainians need from the Slovaks as help to cope with the winter.
A few weeks later, on February 13, the Department of the Interior reported that support to Ukraine continues and in cooperation with Transpetrol and S&D Pharma Slovakia offered Ukraine humanitarian aid in the form of four transformers and vitamins. The total value of the cargo weighing 10 tons was to reach 157,649 euros.
Subsequently, the government cabinet took a break and the Ministry of the Interior announced the next help on October 24. And that in the form of 18 ambulances. “These ambulances represent more than just technology. They are a manifestation of belonging and determination to help alleviate the suffering of people affected by the war,” said the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Patrik Krauspe (Hlas). These were decommissioned vehicles of the Emergency Medical Service in Bratislava, i.e. not ambulances that would be actively used in Slovakia.
At the beginning of December 2024, Blanár promised at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that Slovakia would continue humanitarian aid to Ukraine. “I presented in my speech that Slovakia helps Ukraine on a commercial basis with the supply of electricity and we will continue to do so,” said the head of the MFA. He emphasized that Slovakia will complete the 14th humanitarian package for Ukraine by the end of the year, which also includes electric generators, and wants to continue helping with the supply of non-lethal military equipment.
Before Christmas, on December 18, the government also approved the donation of five pieces of demining sets to Bozen or ten pieces of universal finishing machines (UDS). The delivery also includes radars for the remote detection of toxic chemical substances and sets of spare parts for these devices, as well as tank carriers and trailers or folding stretchers.
“This material aid is exclusively non-lethal and humanitarian in nature,” emphasized Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer), who submitted the proposal for negotiations. Slovakia should gradually deliver these items to Ukraine in the months of December 2024 to May 2025.
However, Fico undermined Blanár’s last commitments to NATO representatives with his claims. In December, Slovakia therefore undertook to continue humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which the country’s prime minister began to question in January. In addition, he also talked about the possible complete withdrawal of benefits for Ukrainian war refugees in Slovakia.
Current aid for refugees
In the first weeks and months of the Russian military aggression, Slovakia provided hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine with truly massive and extensive aid. Not only the government, but also many ordinary Slovaks took part in it. Heger’s government also quickly approved the so-called Lex Ukraine, which simplified several bureaucratic processes for refugees.
The amendment also introduced an allowance for the accommodation of out-of-towners, as well as the right to the provision of urgent health care. At the same time, cars with Ukrainian state license plates were exempted from highway stamps, and humanitarian convoys should be exempted from tolls.
Photo: SITA/AP, Olivier Matthys
Belgium Russia Ukraine War Europe Refugees from Ukraine demonstrate against Russian aggression (illustrative picture is from Brussels). Photo: SITA/AP/Olivier Matthys
The government also decided to financially support families who lost their homes due to the war and were forced to flee abroad. Through employment offices, refugees could apply for a benefit of 80 to 160 euros per person per month, while one family could receive a maximum of 380 euros. These contributions were paid from the state budget in March to May 2022, after which the European Commission reimbursed Slovakia for the costs of these benefits in the amount of 200 million euros.
From May 2022, contributions to refugees flowed not from the state budget, but from international and humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross or the United Nations. Basically, this means that the Slovak government cannot decide on the payment of these contributions.
Until now, the state budget has reimbursed the reimbursement for the accommodation of refugees from Ukraine. However, it is not the immigrants who receive the money, but the owners of the properties in which they are accommodated. Last year, the government began to gradually cut spending on this type of support for refugees. First, it was decided to reduce the amount of the allowance to five euros per night of accommodation for the emigrant. In the summer, the government cabinet decided that the allowance for the accommodation of an emigrant will be provided only for the first 120 days after obtaining temporary refuge in Slovakia. The new conditions are intended to ensure that support for out-of-towners is sustainable in the long term and targeted as much as possible.
As of March 1, 2025, the duration of the allowance for accommodation will be reduced to 60 days, which the government decided at the end of 2024. The allowance will only be available for longer in the case of vulnerable persons. According to the law, this group includes a household member who is a recipient of aid in material need, a person with a serious disability, a senior citizen over 65 years of age, a child under the age of five, a parent or a natural person who takes care of a child under the age of five.
According to information published on the website of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, war refugees are not even entitled to most types of state social support. “Citizens of Ukraine with the status of temporary refuge are not entitled to state social benefits such as child allowance, parental allowance, replacement alimony, funeral allowance or allowance at the birth of a child. These state social benefits are subject to the condition of temporary or permanent residence,” the department’s website states.
The only exception is vulnerable persons with the status of temporary refuge, who can apply for a benefit in material need at the labor offices. They are entitled to the basic amount of the benefit, i.e. the amount of 86.50 euros per month for an individual and a maximum of 303 euros for a couple with four children. In order to receive the benefit, they must meet the same conditions as Slovak citizens. This means that the income of these refugees does not reach the amount of the living minimum and they do not know or cannot secure their income through work. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Labor, 5.7 thousand foreigners in Slovakia received this financial support from the state at the end of last year, and their number is gradually decreasing, because many refugees either manage to find a job or return to their home country.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
