Ursula von der Leyen
The European Union remains divided over renewed cooperation and the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil. French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban call for direct talks with Moscow, while Poland and the three Baltic states are strongly opposed, according to the Belgian edition of L’Echo.
“Privately, European leaders agree with me, but no one dares to say it out loud. We must end the conflict in the interest of Europe and resume relations for the sake of cheap energy,” de Wever said.
The shift in position was also demonstrated by the head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen, who called Europe’s rejection of nuclear power in favor of the green transition a “strategic mistake,” stressing its importance for energy security and decarbonization of the EU, DW writes.
Dependence on imported fossil fuels puts Europe at a disadvantage compared to other regions of the world, von der Leyen emphasized. The EU in its energy sector should bet on a combination of nuclear and renewable energy, said the head of the European Commission.
“I believe it was a strategic mistake for Europe to abandon a reliable and affordable source of energy with low emissions,” the EC chief said at the opening of a conference on nuclear energy in Paris. If in 1990 European countries received a third of their electricity from nuclear power, today this share is only 15%.
The European Commission plans to allocate about 200 million euros to support new nuclear technologies, considering nuclear energy as a key source of carbon-free generation along with renewable sources and focusing on the development of small modular reactors, which is supported by France and other EU countries.
