Slovakia has decided to support the upcoming 19th sanctions package after the wording it requested was included in the final statement of the upcoming EU summit. The new sanctions against Russia are scheduled to be discussed at the EU summit on Thursday.

Fico told the Slovak parliament that his intention was never to block sanctions on Russia. He said the goal was to get the EU to take stronger action against soaring energy prices, rather than focusing solely on military aid to Ukraine.

Fico stated that he would not agree with"that the main topic of every EU summit is always Ukraine, Ukraine and again Ukraine" while the fundamental problems of the European economy are ignored.

The draft final declaration of the EU summit now states that,"given the negative impact of high energy prices on the global competitiveness of European industry, the strategic autonomy of the European Union and European households, the European Council calls on the [European] Commission to accelerate its work to reduce energy prices and support sustainable energy production in the Union."

The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that specific proposals will be submitted soon, Fico announced in the Slovak parliament.