Final Word from Wednesday, June 5, 2024

What kind of highly industrialized landlocked country with few natural resources boasts about cutting itself off from its key supplier of oil and natural gas? The Czech Republic, of course. PM Petr Fiala said proudly yesterday that the CR will end its 60-year dependence on Russian oil by mid-2025. Industry Min. Jozef Síkela was so eager to make the right moral decision that he lied for months about already being independent of Russia for natural gas. In the short term there are of course replacements for Russian energy, but the long-term prospects are quite worrisome. Of the 14 countries listed by the CIA as having the largest petroleum and/or natural-gas reserves, the CR can only be sure of Canada and the United States. Prague's pro-Israeli stance potentially alienates it from the many Muslim countries, and the CR doesn't recognize the president of Venezuela. The CR is doing more than any other EU country to back itself into a corner in terms of energy, and this makes Fiala and Síkela proud. [ Czech Republic European Union pipeline Global South North proven proved ]