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"Slovakia's Robert Fico said on Saturday that his talks with Vladimir Putin focused on energy cooperation, as he defended engagement with Moscow amid his visit for Russia’s Victory Day commemorations. Speaking in a video message as he returned from Moscow, Fico reiterated his opposition to what he described as a 'new Iron Curtain’ between the European Union and Russia. “We are interested in standard, friendly, and mutually beneficial relations with this global superpower,” he said. “In the spirit of a sovereign Slovak foreign policy oriented towards all four corners of the world, interested in good relations with everyone who shares the same interest. We focused specifically on cooperation in the energy sector,” he stressed. Fico blasted the European Union’s efforts to phase out Russian energy imports, arguing that replacing dependency on Russian supplies with American shipments would significantly increase costs for Europe. “We cannot, purely out of hatred towards Russia, replace one energy dependency with another, this time American,” he said. “I consider these higher energy prices to be a tax we in Europe must pay for our own stupidity and ideological obsession with Russia.” The Slovak prime minister warned that the United States could ultimately profit from Europe’s energy crisis by purchasing Russian-linked infrastructure and reselling fuel at inflated prices. "The real fun is yet to come, when Americans buy the gas and oil transport infrastructure in Europe from Russia, they will buy gas and oil at standard prices and then pass them on to us with a sky-high American markup," he warned. He underlined that Slovakia filed a lawsuit before the Court of Justice of the European Union challenging the EU’s RePowerEU regulation aimed at ending dependence on Russian fossil fuels. According to Fico, Slovakia argues the regulation effectively amounts to a sanctions package that should have required unanimous approval from all EU member states rather than passage through qualified majority voting. Fico also criticised Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland for refusing overflight permission to his aircraft en route to Moscow, forcing his delegation to take a longer route via the Czech Republic. “If some member states of the European Union go to such absurdities that they do not allow the prime minister of a union member state to fly over their territory, this will not strengthen mutual trust,” he said, urging calm. “I am not preparing any reciprocal measures against these countries; if they need to fly over our territory anywhere and for any purpose, we will not prevent them from doing so.” Fico was the only serving EU leader to attend Russia’s May 9 celebrations marking the 81st anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II."
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