BELGRADE, Serbia 

The leaders of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia said Thursday that nuclear energy will have an important place in the future of their nations.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob attended the 1st Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Belgian government.

"We are all ready to discuss big plans, big things in the future, and things that are good for the future, but we do not know how to implement them," Vucic said at the one-day summit.

He added that Serbia has big plans for the future.

Plenkovic said Europe needs to create a clear and predictable framework for the research, development and financing of nuclear energy technology.

"Nuclear energy represented 21.8% of the EU's electricity production in 2022. Political developments, especially after Russia's aggression against Ukraine, show how important this technology is for the energy transformation in the EU, he said. “This technology must be recognized and supported as an important element in helping to secure the EU's energy independence, alongside energy from renewable sources.”

Golub said Slovenia is moving forward to decarbonize all sectors to fight global warming.

"There is no doubt that global warming is the biggest threat to humanity. We need to do our best to decarbonize all sectors, but for my country, energy comes first and we plan to decarbonize the energy sector as soon as possible. We are moving forward to achieve this goal by 2040," he said.

"There is only one way forward and that is a combination of ambitious plans for renewable energy as well as ambitious plans to expand our nuclear facilities," he added.

Vucic invited the head of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, to visit Serbia as soon as possible.

Participants are expected to adopt a declaration on nuclear energy at the end of the summit.