Final Word from Thursday, July 14, 2022

One day after German Economy Min. Robert Habeck signed a "Joint statement regarding energy security" in Prague, he said in Vienna that his country has a "heat problem and a supply problem, not an electricity problem. And nuclear power doesn't help us there at all." He was rejecting domestic calls for a later exit from nuclear power. Yet ex-PM Jerzy Buzek of Poland said in Deník yesterday that Germany is the EU country most at risk in terms of energy supply. Germany is only 40% dependent on Russian natural gas, he said, but that 40% means tens of billions of cubic meters, and if there isn't gas, the German economy is at risk. Habeck's continued opposition to nuclear reactors is significant for Czechs, because his joint statement with Jozef Síkela also addresses a possible electricity shortage: "We underscore that enhanced cooperation in the electricity sector will also be indispensable." This underscores the reality that if Germany doesn't have an electricity problem, it's only because Czechs have nuclear power. At some point, Germany's deep-seated nuclear denial could cause Germans and Czechs to have a joint electricity problem. [ Czech Republic Greens STAN Polish solidarity ]