Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has threatened to cut financial support for more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees as a dispute with Ukraine over Russian gas supplies escalates.
January 1, Kyiv shuts down a pipeline It has been used to supply Russian gas to central Europe for decades.
Slovakia, which was once the main point of entry, will now lose millions of euros in transit fees.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates Last month, there were 6,813,900 Ukrainian refugees worldwide, 130,530 of them in Slovakia.
Fico-Who in December? Unexpected visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Putin – Described Kyiv’s actions as “destructive”.
The EU prime minister said he would propose halting electricity exports to Ukraine and “significantly reducing” financial support for Ukrainians seeking refuge in Slovakia.
He said Slovakia itself was not at risk of suffering a gas shortage because it had already made alternative arrangements.
But Fico added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to turn off the tap would see Slovakia deduct 500 million euros (£415m; $518m) in transit fees from other countries.
Last month, Zelensky accused Fico of helping Putin “finance the war and weaken Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president has said: “Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia’s attempts to bring more suffering to Ukrainians.”
Poland has offered to provide support to Kiev if Slovakia cuts off electricity exports – vital to Ukraine, whose power plants are regularly attacked by Russia.
The Polish government called the blackout “another victory” against Moscow, while the European Commission said the EU was prepared for the change and that most countries could handle it.
Moldova, which is not a member of the European Union, is already facing shortages.
Russia can still deliver natural gas to Hungary, Türkiye and Serbia through the Turkish Stream pipeline across the Black Sea.