PM Fico says Slovakia will block EU sanctions on Russia if they harm national interests

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(Reuters) -Slovakia will block any European Union sanctions against Russia that damage its national interests, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Sunday after parliament approved a resolution calling on the government not to back any new measures.

Fico said that Slovakia wanted to stay constructive within the bloc, but he called the resolution a political tool with a strong message.

“If there is a sanction that would harm us, I will never vote for it,” Fico told a news conference shown on his party’s YouTube page.

Slovakia, a NATO and European Union member, has diverged from Western allies in its position on Ukraine under Fico and his leftist-nationalist government coalition, and stopped official state military aid to Kyiv as it battles Russia’s invasion.

Fico has also been an opponent of sanctioning Russia for its war against Ukraine, saying trade measures damage Slovakia and the EU more than Moscow.

The new resolution, approved in a thinly attended parliamentary session, committed government members not to vote for new sanctions and trade limitations towards Russia. It had not been immediately clear to what extent the resolution was constitutionally binding.

Fico said he could not support any measure stopping the import of Russian fuel for Slovakia’s nuclear power plants.

“I am interested in being a constructive player in the European Union, but not at the expense of Slovakia.”

Slovakia has not blocked any previous EU sanctions, including a 17th package targeting Moscow’s shadow fleet, adopted in May.

Attempts to hit Russia’s gas and nuclear sectors have consistently hit obstacles, with opposition from Slovakia and other countries, like Hungary, that still rely on Russian energy supplies.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague; editing by Sophie Walker)