Slovakia discovers that fuel is not an international charity project — foreigners will pay more

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced a revolutionary discovery — it turns out fuel is not a free product that can be shared with all neighbors. The new regulation stipulates that foreigners will pay a higher price for fuel, calculated as the average of neighboring countries' prices. This mathematical miracle raises the question — is Slovakia so cheap that even the average price from neighbors is higher than their own prices?

Now each car will be able to purchase fuel only up to 400 euros worth, which is quite generous, considering that with this amount in Liepāja you can buy as much fuel as the fishermen in our port claim about their freshly caught fish — theoretically a lot, but in practice always less than promised. Transportation of more than 10 liters of fuel in cans is also prohibited, which means fuel hoarding is now limited to single household bunker level.

At several gas stations on the Slovak-Polish border, fuel had run out, indicating that Poles are as enthusiastic fuel tourists as Riga residents who drive to Liepāja for cheaper cafés and then complain about the wind. The government has agreed with oil refining companies on voluntary price ceilings, which is as effective a solution as voluntary speed limits on Kurzeme highway.

Finally, some country has understood that being nice to neighbors is a lovely thing, but not at your own expense. Now we just have to wait for Latvia to discover that our fuel prices are not an international social experiment.