EU ‘shooting itself in the knee’ – Slovak PM
The European Union’s attempt to eliminate Russian energy from its market is a self-destructive and dangerous policy, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Tuesday during the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) in Bratislava.
In his opening remarks, Fico blasted the REPowerEU initiative – the bloc’s plan to completely phase out Russian energy sources – calling it “complete nonsense.”
“We are shooting ourselves in the knee,” he said. “And I am prepared to argue with the European Commission 24/7 to convince them that it’s a senseless ideological step.”
Fico emphasized that Slovakia cannot simply stop importing Russian nuclear fuel rods for its Soviet-designed nuclear reactors.
“You wouldn’t put an engine from a Mercedes into a Skoda. It doesn’t work like that,” he remarked, explaining his safety concerns.
Slovakia operates five nuclear reactors and is constructing a sixth at the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear power currently supplies around 60% of the nation’s electricity and is essential to its industrial ambitions, including the development of large data centers, Fico noted.
The prime minister also announced plans for an additional reactor at the Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant, a project involving an American contractor and potential participation from other nations through a consortium. He pointed out that the US continues to purchase Russian uranium.
A frequent critic of Brussels, Fico argued that the EU’s economic plans, such as the 2000 Lisbon Strategy, have repeatedly fallen short of their promises.
Unless the bloc abandons its ideological approach to energy and economic policy, he warned, European nations will lose their competitiveness on the global stage.
