Czech PM: Ukraine, energy security among EU Pres. priorities

BRUSSELS, July 6 (KUNA) -- The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, Wednesday outlined the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council and plans on how to steer the European Union through the current crises.
Among the five pillars of the Czech Presidency, the first priority is the support to Ukraine and the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, he told the full session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg today.
"We are at a time when there is a war going on just outside the borders of the European Union. The classic conventional conflict that many of us thought was a thing of the past in Europe," he said.
"The EU's political and military support for Ukraine is in the vital interest of the entire Union, with fundamental implications for the future of the continent," he stressed.
The second priority, he noted, is energy security.
"The current crisis has fully revealed how existentially important it is for the future of the EU to ensure its independence from countries that threaten our security. We are, of course, talking about Russian gas, oil and coal," he said.
"The path that the Czech Presidency wants to take is primarily to work on common European projects that free us from our dependence on Russia.
"In order to become energy independent from Russia, we need to take advantage of all the opportunities that our geographical conditions allow us. Due to the size of the Union and the number of Member States, there is no one single solution. Each Member State must be able to choose the energy mix that best suits its own conditions and that enables it both to meet its climate objectives and withdraw from Russian energy supplies," he stated.
Strengthening European defence capabilities and the security of cyberspace countries, the strategic resilience of the European economy and the resilience of EU democratic institutions to both external and internal threats are among the other three priorities of the Czech EU Presidency.
He stressed that food security is also part of the strategic resilience of the European economy.
"We must not forget the need to ensure sufficient food supplies in other parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable regions, not only because destabilisation in these regions would represent a significant security threat for Europe," added the Czech Prime Minister.
The Czech Republic is holding the Presidency of the EU Council from July to December, following the French Presidency. (end) nk.mt