Slovak DefenceMinister Jaroslav Naď is convinced that Slovakia does not violate EU sanctions. Thus, he reacted to the report by the DenníkN daily that Slovak companies provide goods to suppliers of Russian military entities. The daily added that it has a list of thousands of units that were allowed by Slovak customs officers to be exported to Russia after the war started in Ukraine. If the goods were suitable for military purposes, this could be a violation of EU sanctions against Russia. Slovak customs officers allegedly did not verify if the goods could be used for military purposes.
According to Naď, if Russia uses material not included on the sanctions list for purposes other than specified, it is necessary to seek solutions at the international level. "If there are problems, it is necessary to find out first whether these are systemic issues or an individual's or firm's failure. We will learn this from an analysis and then we take specific measures," he said, adding that such an analysis could be completed within days or weeks.
If it turns out that sanctioned products are being exported to Russia via Slovakia, specific action will be taken, stated Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger in reaction to the report. He stressed that at this moment these claims are only assumptions that need to be verified. "We will take whatever corrective steps are necessary. We certainly do not want to violate the sanctions, and I believe we are not doing so," said the PM, adding that there will be an investigation into whether someone has erred. At the same time, Heger declared that Slovakia will continue to support Ukraine.
Head of Slovak Financial Administration Jiří Žežulka stated that customs authorities cannot intervene in foreign trade operations if the goods or entities involved aren't on the EU sanctions list. Žežulka denied that Financial Administration is failing to meet its obligations and stressed that the office is only an executive body and that licenses for export are granted by the Economy Ministry. He claimed that his office communicates with the Economy and Defence Ministries and the Slovak Intelligence Service on a weekly basis.
At the same time, Žežulka stated that if an item is suitable for producing weapons or to serve as a weapon component, that does not automatically make it subject to EU sanctions.
Source: TASR
