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The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic submitted a petition to the government calling for the abolition of EU sanctions against Russia

by AI | 20.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic announced that the citizens’ petition for the cancellation of EU sanctions against Russia has been forwarded to the government.

Office of the President of the Slovak Republic forwarded citizens' petition to abolish EU sanctions against Russia to the government. PHOTO: TASR

Bratislava – The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic announced on Thursday that it had forwarded the petition sheets related to the call to cancel the EU sanctions against Russia to the Slovak government. The Presidential Office stated that the citizens are addressing the government explicitly with the petition, and the president is not mentioned in it, nor does the petition contain a referendum question, reports TASR.

The petition concerns the appeal to the government, which aims to achieve the cancellation of the sanctions against the Russian Federation. It is backed by the civil association Motorcyclists of Slovakia – Brother for Brother. The representatives of the association handed it over to the Presidential Office last week.

The EU Council in February 2025, on the third anniversary of the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine, adopted the sixteenth package of sanctions against Russia. The restrictive measures introduced by the Union gradually over three years, related to actions disrupting or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine, currently apply to more than 2400 individuals and entities from the Russian Federation.

The Presidential Office reminded that, according to the law, citizens address the president with a petition requesting the announcement of a referendum.

“The petition or petition sheet should be adjusted so that it is clear from it that the citizens signing the petition are addressing this petition to the President of the Slovak Republic. Another requirement of the law states that the proposal or proposals submitted for decision in a referendum must be formulated so that they can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ unequivocally and must not be conditional on each other,” writes the office’s statement. The petition, which was submitted on March 11, does not meet these requirements.

The petition was referred to the government of the Slovak Republic, which was also addressed according to its content, informed the Presidential Office. The petition includes a call to the government to use all competencies “for the purpose of canceling all sanctions, restrictive measures and other restrictions in financial, economic, international law, but also cultural, sports, and other areas of public life, which are aimed against the Russian Federation, as well as individuals connected with the Russian Federation.” The organization behind the petition claims that the sanctions imposed against Russia harm Slovakia’s interests. (March 20)