Slovakia and France seek to deepen cooperation in energy as well

Bratislava, 31 May (CTK correspondent) – Slovakia and France want to deepen cooperation in areas including energy and hydrogen technologies, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Slovak counterpart Zuzana Čaputová said after their joint meeting in Bratislava today. Slovakia and France are both committed to generating electricity from nuclear power, while Bratislava does not want to depend on supplies of nuclear fuel from Russia.

„The recent period has been a major challenge in terms of becoming independent of energy sources from Russia. France is one of the countries with which we are discussing nuclear fuel. France is a major player when it comes to diversifying sources of nuclear fuel,“ Čaputová said.

Nuclear power plants account for the largest share of electricity generation in Slovakia. Until now, Slovakia has sourced fuel for its reactors from Russia, but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February last year, Slovak politicians began talking about the need to diversify supplies. Nuclear fuel is also produced by the French company Framatome and the US company Westinghouse.

Macron defended nuclear power as part of the energy transition. Čaputová, in turn, said the share of renewables in electricity generation needed to increase.

Macron and Čaputová also discussed the need to protect European values and the fight against disinformation. „Security on the European continent also means fighting disinformation and hate speech. Basic values are under attack in democratic Europe,“ Macron said. He added that right-wing extremism could not be fought solely through moral values.