The Czech Republic is lending a helping hand. Prague offers help to Slovakia after giving up Russian gas

The Czech Republic is ready to help Slovakia if it finds itself in a difficult situation due to the withdrawal of Russian gas supplies, declared the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, Lukasz Vlczek, quoted by the CTK agency on Monday. On that day, EU energy ministers supported a complete ban on gas imports from Russia from 2028.

Vlczek, who participated in the meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg, assessed that giving up Russian gas supplies is technically possible. “I suggested several times to my Slovak colleague (Minister of Economy Denisa Sakova – PAP) that if Slovakia needs closer cooperation with the Czech Republic, the Czech Republic is ready for it,” he said.

“There is such a possibility, but Slovakia must express its willingness to use it. If it decides to do so, we are ready (to respond – PAP) immediately,” he declared. He added that Slovakia thanked him for the offer of help.

Vlczek argued that the Czech gas infrastructure has such capacity that the Czech Republic is able to almost immediately redirect supplies and send to Slovakia the gas that reaches the Czech Republic via Germany.

In his opinion, Slovakia and Hungary are justified in their fears that abandoning the import of Russian gas will affect energy prices in these countries. However, he added that he did not understand why the governments in Bratislava and Budapest did not react to it in previous years. He recalled that the Czech Republic had modernized the gas pipeline leading from Trieste through the Alps to Germany and further to the Czech Republic.

“Russia is waging war against us and there is no point in us extending the financing of Russia's war against Europe,” the minister emphasized. He added that “the Czech Republic does not currently receive gas from Russia,” but it cannot be ruled out that some amounts may reach the country through intermediaries.

On Monday, the energy ministers of the EU countries agreed on a position on the introduction of a total ban on gas imports from Russia from January 1, 2028. The changes are to cover both liquefied gas and gas supplied via gas pipelines. Slovakia and Hungary, which import gas from Russia via pipelines, expressed their opposition to the decision, but it was voted down.

From Prague Piotr Górecki (PAP)

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