In the upcoming months, a decision is going to be made in the Czech Republic about who will be responsible for the enlargement project of the Dukovany nuclear plant, including whether risky candidates like Russian or Chinese state companies will be allowed to participate in the public tender or not. 

On October 22^nd, Poland signed a cooperation agreement with the United States in the civil nuclear energy sector, specifically regarding the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland. Through this agreement, Poland is trying to diversify energy sources and increase its independence from supplies of hydrocarbons from Russia.

The Guardians already observed intense disinformation campaigns from the Russian side to sabotage this project. In Russian-language news channels, articles appeared suggesting that the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland will cause a conflict between Europe and the United States, that the investment will lead to the deterioration of relations between Poland and the EU, or that the construction of the power plant poses a threat to the security of the Baltic states.

Two Slovakian intelligence services published their annual reports in recent weeks, presenting relevant findings about Russian activities in Slovakia, causing an upheaval on the disinformation scene.

According to the annual reports, the Russian state media have been targeting the EU and NATO by discrediting their campaigns, while “information was taken over by pro-Russian organizations and alternative media.”

Furthermore, Russian intelligence services regularly try to infiltrate not only local councils, but also into central organs of state administration and security services. They are also trying to gain collaborators in energy and military fields.

Similar behaviour has been noticed in the Czech Republic for some time by both intelligence services and the media. For example, Respekt magazine informed about the latest case of Russian activities when one of the employees of ČEZ (a Czech generator and distributor of electricity) gave detailed information about the prepared tender for enlargement of the nuclear power station Dukovany to a representative of Rosatom.

Democratic countries should protect their critical infrastructure from hostile authoritarian regimes. Even though it might seem economically beneficial at first, inviting state companies from countries like Russia or China into the process of building some of the most critical projects in the country is a process which can lead to serious security threats which are very difficult to control once set in motion. That applies to the construction of nuclear energy power plants as well. It is not only the security of the control systems which is at stake. The main problem is the creation of an asymmetrical dynamic favouring the will of dictators in Moscow or Beijing which can be abused for future blackmail by delaying or sabotaging construction projects.