Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has told the 18th European Nuclear Energy Forum (Enef) in Bratislava that Europe “cannot prosper without nuclear energy” and warned that “ideology must not drive energy decisions”.

Fico said the recently completed Mochovce-3 nuclear power unit and the near-completion of Mochovce-4 are “critical for Slovakia’s energy security.”

Fico criticised what he called “nonsensical ideological steps” in the EU’s REPowerEU policy, singling out potential plans to limit supplies of nuclear fuel from Russia.

He said any ban or restriction on importing fuel from Russia would “threaten the energy security and safety of the EU”, stressing that nuclear fuel assemblies “cannot simply be replaced.”