At the two-day summit starting on Thursday in Brussels, Slovakia advocates the continued use of nuclear energy and preserving it in the national energy mix, including as part of policies aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) stated before the meeting of the European Council. The main topics on the agenda of the summit are hikes in the prices of energy, vaccination against COVID-19, respect for the rule of law, trade policies, climate issues, migration and digitisation.
As for Slovakia’s contribution to the debate concerning energy prices, the country proposes, among other matters, to define a minimum amount of gas in reserves in the EU. In terms of pricing, Heger is of the opinion that prices in the energy mix should be set up in a manner that would favour low-carbon sources.
When it comes to migration, Heger expressed his support for Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, condemning the conduct of Belarus, which, in his opinion, has been misusing migrants to launch hybrid attacks on the EU.
Heger remarked that the situation concerning the pandemic is serious in some EU countries, especially in countries with low vaccination rates, which is also the case of Slovakia, but he added that Slovakia has the situation under control. He advocated a stricter control of hoaxes and disinformation, an area in which he sees a need for tighter cooperation with social networks.
According to the prime minister, the discussion on the rule of law in the context of the dispute between the European Commission and Poland should be conducted preferably "behind closed doors" until a proper solution is found.
At the same time, Heger thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is attending her last EU summit, for the fact that Germany has been the engine of European integration and economic prosperity.
Source: TASR
