Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is visiting Prague today to hold talks with Jozef Síkela, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade. Apart from the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union and industrial and trade policy, the focus was on current energy and climate policy issues, especially energy security. Minister Habeck and Minister Síkela signed a joint declaration on energy security to send out a signal of solidarity in the energy crisis. 

Federal Minister Habeck said: "The Czech Republic has taken on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in challenging times. I support our Czech neighbour’s Presidency programme to master the repercussions of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We have signed a joint declaration on energy security and solidarity today in order to send out a clear signal of our cooperation between our two countries in the energy crisis. It must be our aim to become independent of Russian imports of fossil fuels as soon as possible. In this context, the energy transition and independence from energy imports go hand in hand. We are strengthening our good bilateral relations and the European economy through joint German-Czech projects and intensive collaboration. In addition to tackling the current crisis, we need to resolutely continue to press ahead with our long-term objectives, including implementing the ambitious Fit-for-55 package."

Minister Síkela: “Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is using energy as a weapon against us. He is trying to expose us to the threat of a complete lack of gas and increase its prices, which leads to the deterioration of the standard of living of each of us.
Having allies from the European Union on our side is our great advantage in this energy war. It is clear that the cooperation with Germany, through which almost all gas flows to us, will be essential for us in this direction.

That is also why I am glad that I could welcome the German Minister of Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck, in Prague today. We are both supporters of the idea that the unity of the European Union must be preserved, and that the condition for this is mutual solidarity across the European Union. This is also why Minister Habeck and I signed a joint ministerial statement today, in which we declare mutual solidarity and our commitment to co-ordinate our actions in the event of a gas supply disruption.”

The joint declaration is available here.