Slovak parliament calls on government to end backing for Russia sanctions

(Reuters) -Slovakia's parliament, in a thinly attended session, approved a resolution on Thursday calling on the government not to vote in favour of sanctions on Russia.

Slovakia, a NATO and European Union member, has under Prime Minister Robert Fico diverged from Western allies in its position on Ukraine and stopped official state military aid to Kyiv as it battles Russia's invasion.

Fico has been critical of sanctions against Moscow due to what he said was their impact on the Slovak and European economies, as well as lack of impact on Russia, but the country has backed EU sanctions packages to date.

It was not clear to what extent the resolution, proposed by members of the far-right SNS party, a junior member of the ruling coalition, was binding on the government. There was no immediate reaction from Fico, nor from the country's foreign ministry.

The resolution "commits members of the government... not to vote for the adoption of new sanctions and trade limitations towards the Russian Federation", the text released on the parliament's website said.

The resolution did not specifically say ministers had to block or vote against sanctions.

The resolution was approved with 51 votes in the 150-seat parliament, after a last-minute decision by the opposition to leave the chamber.

It was backed by the SNS and most, but not all, of Fico's SMER-SSD party legislators, but only three deputies from the second-biggest ruling party, Hlas.

Online newspaper dennikn.sk quoted a legal expert as saying the government did not have to follow the resolution.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet; Editing by Alex Richardson)