Czech PM urges EU to shelve Green Deal amid virus

(FILE) Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis waves as he arrives for a special European Council summit in Brussels on February 20, 2020, held to discuss the next long-term budget of the European Union (EU). (Photo by Aris Oikonomou / AFP)

PRAGUECzech Republic (AFP) — The Czech premier, whose country depends on nuclear energy and coal, said Monday the European Union should shelve its landmark green law seeking carbon neutrality as it battles the novel coronavirus.

“Europe should forget about the Green Deal now and focus on the coronavirus instead,” Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters, without explaining how the two are connected.

“Europe is now the biggest epicenter of the coronavirus in the world,” the billionaire populist added.

The EU unveiled a draft of the Green Deal earlier this month, mandating members to achieve net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.

But ex-communist EU members like the Czech Republic have announced much less ambitious plans as their energy sectors are still largely dependent on coal.

The Czech Republic has registered 344 cases of COVID-19, including three recovered patients. No one has died of the disease in the country of around 11 million people.

The Czech Republic recently closed its borders as well as schools, most shops and cultural facilities and restricted free movement.

A man walks past the statue of the first Czech president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk on the Hradcenske Square at the Prague Castle on March 16, 2020 in Prague. – The Czech government imposed new restrictions on movement to combat the spread of the coronavirus Sunday, adding to measure that have closed shops, restaurants, pubs and schools and banned gatherings of more than 30 people. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)

Earlier Monday, the government sent a special military plane to China to collect coronavirus test kits, and Babis said another seven planes should follow suit.

He praised China for its handling of the contagion.

“Now that the epidemic is nearly over in China, the country is once again the biggest producer of medical material and the entire planet is going shopping in China,” said Babis.

“We really have a lot to learn from China.”

 

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