Key news to follow:
1. Slovakia halts diesel exports to Ukraine following the shutdown of the Druzhba pipeline
2. Fico threatens to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine unless oil transit resumes by Monday
3. Slovak opposition – Ivan Korčok and SaS party – openly condemn the prime minister's ultimatum
Analysis:
The Slovak government's decision to halt diesel exports to Ukraine, framed as a measure to protect domestic fuel reserves, looks unconvincing from the outset. The Druzhba pipeline shutdown was caused by Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Yet Bratislava has chosen Kyiv as a target and responded with restrictions that hit the civilian population of a country already under attack.
Fico went further and threatened to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine unless oil transit by Druzba resumes by Monday is an explicit weaponisation of energy. That ultimatum is issued on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, while Ukrainian cities face relentless bombardment, making the timing all the more striking. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban made a near-identical statement at the same time, and the synchronicity between the two capitals is hard to dismiss as a coincidence. What neither Bratislava nor Budapest expected, however, is that on the night of February 23rd, a Ukrainian strike hit the Kaleikino oil pumping station in Russia's Tatarstan – a key node of the Druzhba pipeline itself. While the ultimatum was designed to pressure Kyiv into compliance, Ukraine's answer came not through diplomacy but through a direct strike against the very point the blackmail was built around.
Inside Slovakia, the backlash has been direct. Former foreign minister Ivan Korcok described Fico's conduct as "cynicism without compassion" and urged the prime minister not to use the country as a tool for blackmailing civilians. The liberal SaS party went further, pointing out the internal absurdity of the ultimatum: without electricity, Ukraine cannot repair the damaged pipeline, meaning the oil will not flow regardless, and the threat undermines its own premise.
These aggressive actions of Bratislava are not simply a deliberate deepening of its pro-Russian posture. As Russia continues its winter air terror campaign, Slovakia’s government complements these war crimes with its own policy. The coordination with Budapest reinforces the clarity that this reflects a shared strategy by simulating “defence of national economic interests”.
Key news to follow:
1. SPD leader and parliament speaker Okamura blames Ukrainians for depressing Czech wages and pushes to tighten temporary protection rules
2. President Pavel at a Prague rally: "This is not Ukraine's war – it is ours too."
Analysis:
Tomio Okamura's claim that the influx of Ukrainians has driven down Czech real wages by 30% over four years is a classic example of reducing a complex economic reality to a single, convenient explanation. But the statement carries practical weight: coalition parties have already initiated legislative steps to tighten the terms of temporary protection for Ukrainians. Anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is no longer confined to the campaign trail because it is becoming policy.
President Pavel, speaking at Old Town Square before a crowd gathered to mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, pushed back without diplomatic cushioning. He argued that Ukrainians contribute more to the Czech economy than they take from it, and that anyone claiming Czechia is "tired of Ukraine" is, in effect, indifferent to the country's own future. The contrast with the government's tone could not be starker.
Week after week, the Czech Republic reproduces the same underlying conflict: the presidential institution defending pro-Ukrainian values while the coalition systematically narrows the space for acting on them. The resolution of this standoff will determine the actual substance of Prague's support for Ukraine in the months ahead. For the moment, Czech civil society pressure remains the main factor preventing the coalition's most radical proposals from advancing unchecked.
Key news to follow:
1. Bydgoszcz court receives espionage case against a Polish national accused of collecting data on chemical plants and NATO facilities for Russian intelligence
2. Poland continues to fund over 30,000 Starlink terminals for Ukraine
Analysis:
The case of 29-year-old Viktor Zh., who faces between eight years and life imprisonment, is another demonstration that Russian intelligence is actively operating on Polish soil and systematically targeting strategic infrastructure, including NATO facilities. This is not an isolated incident: Polish courts have handled several similar cases in recent weeks alone. Polish security services are proving capable of detecting these operations and bringing them to prosecution.
At the same time, Poland is quietly sustaining nearly 30,000 Starlink terminals for Ukraine and doing so even amid the public controversy surrounding Elon Musk's company. For Ukrainian forces, connectivity is an operational necessity along the entire front line. Defence minister Fedorov specifically thanked Warsaw for ensuring this support did not lapse.
Both stories point to the same underlying reality: Poland treats the Russian threat as immediate and responds consistently, countering intelligence operations on its own territory while sustaining practical support for Ukraine. That stance stands in sharp contrast to Slovakia, for example, where the very same threat is either denied or turned into a lever for domestic and foreign policy manoeuvring.