The leaders of Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia said Thursday that nuclear energy will have an important place in their countries’ future.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attended the 1st Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Belgian government.
Golob stressed that Slovenia is moving forward with the decarbonisation of all sectors of the economy to combat global warming. He said:
There is no doubt that global warming is the biggest threat to humanity. We need to do our best to decarbonise all sectors, but for my country, energy comes first and we plan to decarbonize the energy sector as soon as possible. We are moving forward to achieve this goal by 2040. There is only one way forward and that is a combination of ambitious plans for renewable energy as well as ambitious plans to expand our nuclear facilities.
Vučić said at the one-day summit:
We are all ready to discuss big plans, big things in the future, and things that are good for the future, but we do not know how to implement them.
The Serbian President also added that Serbia has big plans for the future. Vučić invited IAEA head Rafael Mariano Grossi to visit Serbia as soon as possible.
Plenković said that Europe needs to create a clear and predictable structure for research, development and financing of nuclear energy technologies.
Nuclear energy represented 21.8% of the EU’s electricity production in 2022. Political developments show how important this technology is for the energy transformation in the EU. This technology must be recognised and supported as an important element in helping to secure the EU’s energy independence, alongside energy from renewable sources.
At the end of the summit, participants will adopt a declaration on nuclear energy.
