Slovak minister: All of EU should share burden of sanctions

Slovak minister: All of EU should share burden of sanctions

BRATISLAVA -- Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak says the burden of EU sanctions against Russia should be born "solidarily" by the entire organization.

"It is a conflict of two friendly countries to us. It would be a mistake to view it through the prism of who's with Putin, and who with Poroshenko. I want Ukrainians to know the Slovak people have not turned their backs on them," Lajcak told a joint session of parliamentary committees on foreign policy and European affairs.

Lajcak pointed out that Slovakia, as a friend of both Ukraine and Russia, accepted EU sanctions against Russia "because it insists that international law and territorial integrity are respected," the Slovak media reported.

"For us, that conflict is very sensitive. It is clear that a solution to the conflict is impossible without Russia. It is important that the sanctions are seen as a tool in the search for a peaceful solution, rather than a goal. Slovakia supports a peaceful solution to the conflict," he said.

Lajcak also criticized some EU countries "that use big words, and make business contracts worth millions with Russia."

"We want the EU to show solidarity and fairness in its foreign policy, in other words, that everyone is taking the consequences of the sanctions. We should bear the consequences of the sanctions together, and not make us into a stick someone else will use to hit Putin on the head, while we are the only ones paying for it," said Lajcak.

The minister noted that Slovakia, unlike some other EU member states, was especially vulnerable to the sanctions war because it is energy-dependent on Russia.

"Ireland looks at the...