BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Arriving in Bratislava on a cold winter’s morning, it’s hard to tell that the country is in a state of emergency about its gas supplies.

The soviet-era apartment blocks still get heating from large, communal boilers. People walk the streets unconcerned. No-one seems to be stockpiling electric heaters or wood-fired stoves.

“It doesn’t really affect me,” said one school teacher. “My school still gets heat. The kids are fine. If they start cutting the heat to my classes, then I’ll start to worry.”

The only sign of crisis is the shuttered factories. Slovakia is suspending hundreds of factories to make sure homes are heated instead. Car production centers like Peugeot and Kia stand idle.

With its gas reserves quickly depleting, Slovakia is negotiating a delicate balancing act. Rationing what’s left of their gas reserves on the one hand, desperately trying to secure alternative supplies on the other.

As a last resort, Slovakia has its own nuclear power. The reactors at the soviet-era Jaslovske Bohunice plant were shut down as one of the conditions for Slovakia’s entry into the European Union. But government officials have threatened to turn them back on, if an immediate solution isn’t found.

Amazingly, almost everyone we talk to about the problem seems quite nonchalant. And, in a way, they’ve been dealing with this problem for years. Russia vs. Ukraine is becoming an annual grudge match every winter.

Former soviet-states like Slovakia, still remember the days when Russia was a domineering presence in every aspect of life. So, Russian demands aren’t exactly news to Slovaks.

Some here complain that Ukraine bears just as much responsibility this time around. “They’re thinking only of themselves” sniffed one woman waiting for a bus on a frozen village street.

And there is also some frustration with the EU. Slovakia is one of the newest nations to join. In fact, the country just switched in January to exclusive use of the euro currency. Many we spoke to are happy to be in the EU, but they also wonder aloud what kind of leverage the EU really has when it comes to Russia.

On the snowy streets of Bratislava, it seems many are simply resigned to the fact that when Russia bickers with its neighbors, smaller countries like Slovakia will suffer the consequences.

Posted by: Atika Shubert, CNN Correspondent
Filed under: Europe •Russia