Slovak Energy Minister Karol Galic says that banning Russian oil imports would be “devastating” to Europe’s economy, and believes that such a move would “significantly harm oil supplies for several countries.”
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Slovakia on banning Russian oil imports: It will destroy Europe’s economy
Slovak Energy Minister Karol Galic said on Wednesday that a ban on Russian oil imports would be “devastating” to Europe’s economy.
The Slovak minister added to PolitkoOn the possibility of imposing the embargo: “This will destroy our European economy,” noting that “such a step will greatly harm the oil supplies of Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic and Ukraine as well.”
Galik warned that his country “will not be able to agree to the current scheme of the European Commission to impose a ban on Russian oil imports,” and called for more time to find alternative energy supplies.
In the same context, Hungarian government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, commenting on the European Union’s plans to ban oil supplies from Russia, said his country “is not ready to give up energy security.”
“We are not ready to give up energy security in the country. This is not a political issue, but an energy security issue,” Kovacs was quoted by the hirado.hu portal as saying.
in turn, The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, today, Wednesday, that “the European Union’s move to cut off Russian oil imports may raise global prices,” adding: “We want to work with Europe to ensure that demand is met.”
“We need to see exactly the conditions, how this will be achieved, because it might also lead to higher global oil prices,” Yellen said, during a virtual panel discussion organized by the Wall Street Journal.
And that’s at a time The permanent delegates of the European Union failed In reaching an agreement on banning Russian oil imports during the negotiations that will continue until tomorrow, Thursday (05 May 2022) on this issue.
And the media pointed out that some European Union countries, especially Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, have expressed concern regarding the proposed measures to phase out oil from Russia.
The European Union had proposed Sixth package of sanctions once morest Russia once morest the backdrop of its recent military operation in Ukraine, and the proposals include sanctions on the import of Russian oil and once morest religious military figures.
