BRATISLAVA, March 25. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has expressed his frustration with Europe’s Russia hate.

"I can see and understand much [of what is happening] within Europe. The only thing that I don’t understand is this obsession and hatred toward Russia," the Slovak head of government said in a video address released on his page on Facebook (banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

According to him, there’s a clear double standard in the European Union, given how it views the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip where the civilian death toll in the past few months has exceeded that from the Ukraine conflict now into its fifth year. The EU is no longer a pro-peace bloc, Fico argued. "I have always been adamant that the EU is a peaceful project but I cannot understand the way it behaves now and how the bulk of member countries support the Ukraine war," the Slovak prime minister said. He criticized the bloc’s plans to give a 90 billion euro loan to Kiev which, he noted, has already received 300 billion euros "to support the war" - "€300 billion was wasted," he lamented.

As regards Ukraine halting oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, Fico said the problem stems from the EU’s attitude to Russia. "Don’t you believe this nonsense about us [Slovakia] allegedly sponsoring the Russian war machine by purchasing Russian oil. For Russia’s revenues from what they supply to us account for a mere 0.2% of what they earn from natural resources [exports]," the top official said.

Russia "will never leave Donbass" or other regions, Fico continued. A peace deal that Slovakia insists must be signed as soon as possible should have Kiev’s support and Ukraine should agree to territorial concessions. "Unless Ukraine agrees, the war will continue," he concluded.