Slovakia states reasons for opposing EU's 12th package of sanctions against Russia

Slovakia said it would oppose the 12th package of EU sanctions against Russia related to nuclear fuel, Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said recently, according to the TARS news agency (Slovakia).

Mr Blanar said the new EU sanctions against Russia should not apply to fuel for nuclear power plants, as Slovakia’s nuclear power plants have not yet been converted to use other fuels. For the Slovak government, this issue is extremely important.

In addition, representative of the party "Progressive Slovakia" Tomasz Valasek emphasized that if the sanctions were related to the import of Russian nuclear fuel, any Slovak government would veto this package.

In the middle of last week, the AP news agency quoted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as saying that they had proposed to member states a new package of sanctions targeting the Kremlin and related entities, seeking to tighten previous measures.

The proposal comes amid fresh talks among the 27 member states to reach the necessary consensus. EU officials say they hope the 12th package will be in place by the end of the year.

While Ms Leyen's statement did not go into details, the talks will focus on imposing export restrictions on Russia's lucrative diamond industry.

The new proposals include entities in Russia's military, defense and information technology sectors as well as other important economic operators, targeting more than 120 individuals and entities, the European Commission said in a statement.

Because the EU needs consensus, the outcome of the new sanctions package against Russia is still unclear. Previously, Hungary, which has close ties to Russia, delayed and eased some of the sanctions.