A member state publicly preparing to contest EU energy measures in court is a notable escalation.
Slovakia's prime minister has said his government may take the European Union to court if Brussels moves to permanently stop Russian oil imports, according to a report by TASS. Robert Fico, speaking on the Facebook page of his party Direction – Social Democracy, said that if a decision is made that oil imports must at some point be permanently halted, Slovakia would probably challenge it in a relevant court.
The statement builds on an existing legal front. Fico said Slovakia has already filed a complaint with the Court of Justice of the European Union over the termination of Russian gas supplies to the country, which he said are due to end in 2027. Last month, according to the report, Slovakia challenged the European Commission's decision to ban Russian gas imports in the EU court, seeking to maintain supplies under a contract between the state gas company SPP and Gazprom that runs until 2034.
On oil, the TASS report states that Russian crude imports to Slovakia are to be completely stopped by the end of 2027. Economy Minister Denisa Sakova is quoted as saying the republic is gradually reducing its dependence on Russian raw materials. The report does not specify what legal instrument would formalise the oil halt, nor what grounds Bratislava would invoke in any challenge.
Fico also criticised the European Commission for what he described as inaction on reducing electricity prices across the union. According to him, the EU faces serious problems because of an oil shortage and rising prices for motor fuel. The report gives no supporting figures for those claims, and they are attributed to the prime minister rather than to any independent assessment.
The significance lies less in the immediate prospect of litigation than in what it signals about the politics of energy in central Europe. A member state publicly preparing to contest EU energy measures in court is a notable escalation, and it comes as Bratislava simultaneously defends a long-term gas contract that stretches well beyond the end of the decade. For a landlocked country with limited alternative supply routes, the timing of any enforced switch matters as much as the principle.
Several points remain unconfirmed. The report does not say whether the Commission has taken any formal step on oil beyond the stated 2027 end date, nor how the existing gas complaint is progressing. It does not indicate whether other member states might join a challenge, or what Slovakia's contingency plans are should the courts decline to intervene. Fico's remarks were made on a party social media page, and the precise legal basis for a future oil challenge has not been set out.
