EU decision to cut gas consumption could be ‘fatal’, says opposition leader

The agreement on cuts to gas consumption during the winter is one of the most delicate decisions of the EU in its energy policy and one that could lead to fatal consequences for the economy and for households, opposition Smer-SD chair Robert Fico opined on a social network on Tuesday. According to Fico, Slovakia is a country with extensive gas infrastructure and a rather large number of households connected to it. "There are daunting times ahead of us because the EU has allowed itself to be dragged by the United States and Great Britain into a war between the US and Russia in Ukraine," he said, characterising the Slovak Government’s military support of Ukraine as ‘crazy’. Earlier in the day, EU countries arrived at a deal to cut their consumption of gas during the upcoming heating season in the face of the growing risk that Russia might halt its supplies of the commodity in the most critical season. The EU energy ministers approved an agreement to make voluntary decreases to gas consumption by 15 percent in August 2022-March 2023. Slovak Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS), in cooperation with the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, managed to negotiate exemptions for Slovakia.