The Slovak government leader’s statement was cited by Euractiv.Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Hungary generate electricity using Russian-designed nuclear reactors; most of them depend on Russia for fuel supply until alternative sources become fully available.Fico directly criticized the European Commission’s proposal to gradually phase out imports of Russian energy resources in response to the invasion of Ukraine and the 2022 energy crisis, a plan known as REPowerEU.In his speech, the Slovak prime minister noted that Slovakia signed a nuclear energy agreement with the United States in September.This agreement is tied to Bratislava’s plan to build a new 1,000-megawatt reactor at the Jaslovské Bohunice nuclear power plant.“I believe this is a step that will be important not only for Slovakia but for all of Europe, especially for Central Europe,” the Slovak prime minister said.Fico, who—like his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán—has maintained close ties with the Kremlin throughout the war in Ukraine, has long been a critic of EU efforts to move away from Russian energy resources.In his speech, he called the REPowerEU plan a “miserable document” and “complete nonsense,” stating that Slovakia would “never agree” with the Commission’s proposal to ban all imports of Russian gas. Slovakia and Hungary are the only two EU countries that openly oppose efforts aimed at ending dependence on Russian energy resources.However, unlike economic sanctions, which require the unanimous consent of EU member state governments, Bratislava and Budapest cannot easily block REPowerEU.