Blanar: Stopping Oil Transport Violation of Association Agreement, EC Must Act

         Bratislava, July 22 (TASR) - Ukrainian measures related to the stopping of the transport of oil from Russia to Slovakia and Hungary violate the provisions of the association agreement between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) stated on Monday.
        Together with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, they addressed an urgent call for action to the European Commission (EC) on this matter.
        "The EC is supposed to act as a guardian of the treaties and of compliance with EU law, which Ukraine as an associated state is also obliged to follow. We therefore consider it to be essential that the Commission should act immediately in this case," stated Blanar.
        The Slovak minister pointed out that under the EU sanctions against Russia, Slovakia has an exemption for oil imports until the end of the year. "The Ukrainian side prevented us from applying this exemption," stressed the head of Slovak diplomacy, pointing to the statements from the Ukrainian Parliament that the aim of the measure is to create pressure on Hungary, which should thus change its attitude towards arms supplies to Ukraine or Ukraine's accession to the EU. "We reject Slovakia becoming a political tool against Hungary or any state. We'll resolutely defend ourselves and use all the possibilities of European law," added Blanar.
        Ukraine stopped transporting oil from Russian company Lukoil, with the Economy Ministry confirming the halt last week. This move also affected Bratislava-based refiner Slovnaft. The ministry said that although Lukoil provided part of Slovnaft's supplies, the refiner has secured supplies of Russian oil from another supplier and has also ordered oil from alternative sources. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) also criticised the halt of supplies, and he also addressed his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal on the matter.