The Reuters news agency has commented on the last week’s trip of Slovak Foreign affairs minister Miroslav Lajčák to Moscow, calling it inappropriate at times when European Union's major powers are keeping up the pressure on the Kremlin over its intervention in Ukraine.
Especially problematic is the meeting of the Slovak minister with Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister who is under EU sanctions and banned from entering any country in the bloc. Quoting Reuters, this special relationship with Rogozin is part of an awkward balancing act by Slovakia: preserving the economic benefits of being close to Russia while also belonging to a European Union set on punishing the Kremlin for annexing Ukrainian territory. According to Reuters, one of the reasons Slovakia keeps this ambivalent position is the gas trade with Russia. Quoting one European diplomat, Reuters concludes that it would be good if Slovak government would prefer Europe's fundamental security rather than prices of gas for Slovakia.
