Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has sent a sharply worded open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, criticising the European Union’s approach to climate policy and high energy prices.
These, he argues, are severely undermining the bloc’s industrial competitiveness and global standing.
The letter, posted publicly by Fico on X, accuses the EU of failing a “severe test” in the current era of international instability.
Fico warns that key global players no longer take the EU seriously, partly due to “nonsensical climate goals” and other policies that he said harm economic strength.
“The future of the European Union depends very much on whether we will dogmatically insist on insufficiently considered ambitious climate targets that destroy the strategic European industry, or whether we have the strength and courage to make meaningful reductions,” according to the Slovak PM.
He cites the 2023 shutdown due to high electricity prices of primary aluminium production at Slovalco, a modern, low-emission facility in Slovakia jointly owned by Norwegian and Slovak interests, which accounted for 10 per cent of EU primary aluminium output.
Restarting it could boost production by nearly 20 per cent but high costs prevented this.
Fico noted that Europe has lost 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium capacity recently, becoming dependent on imports, often from higher-emission sources at up to 20 tonnes of CO2 per tonne compared to Slovalco’s 4 tonnes.
The closure led to 450 direct job losses and more than 1,000 indirect ones — outcomes Fico calls “absurd and inexplicable”.
He criticises the EC for not delivering concrete proposals to lower energy prices for strategic sectors, despite repeated European Council requests.
Fico proposes a radical solution: a four-to-five year suspension from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) mechanism to revive industry and reduce electricity costs.
He also contrasts the EU’s huge support for Ukraine, worth more than €380 billion, with neglect of the bloc’s own economic vulnerabilities. He says without a strong economy, the EU remains “vulnerable” and urges equal attention to Europe’s future prosperity alongside other priorities.
LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, URSULA VON DER LEYEN
Dear President of the European Commission,
The era of gross violations of international law and the collapse of the world order in which we find ourselves is a severe test of the strength and capabilities… pic.twitter.com/ujCkBjVHf7— Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) January 20, 2026
Yesterday, Fico also shared a phone call he had with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, where he previewed the criticism, linking it to broader doubts about the EU’s global seriousness.
US President Donald Trump is clearly pursuing the national interests of his country, he said. If the EU acted in the same way “We would be in a completely different position than we are now”.
“World leaders do not take the EU fully seriously and this can be attributed to our nonsensical climate targets and our suicidal migration policy,” he continued.
“In this spirit, I will send an open letter to the President of the European Commission tomorrow and inform all Prime Ministers and heads of EU member states.”
In an interview with TA-3 Slovak television channel on January 11, Fico had already sharply criticised Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat.
“We must replace Ms Kallas,” Fico asserted, highlighting what he said was the EU’s lack of ability to respond effectively to the international situation or to establish a coherent European stance.
He lamented that the EU lacks its own foreign policy positions. “We fumble around for 20 hours before issuing a statement about what happened in Venezuela. We need a strong leadership, not only at the level of nation states,” he said.
“The EU is facing an unprecedented crisis,” Fico insisted, stating that the EU “is in a terrible crisis, the worst crisis it has ever experienced”.
“Only the strong- whether economically, militarily, or in the energy sector – will survive,” he said.
