The war in Ukraine has forced Europeans to imagine life without Russian energy, with 30% of gas and 28% of oil coming from Russia. On Wednesday, May 18, the Commission presented its war plan: the rise of renewables, the acceleration of energy savings, the diversification of gas supply … In total, the Community Administrator promises that these measures will require an investment of 210 billion euros. By 2027, the European Union (EU) will have helped reduce Russia’s two-thirds of hydrocarbons by the end of 2022 and exit them altogether. ” soon “.
Before the Russian occupation, the Europeans, who were jealous of their sovereignty in terms of energy, could not have imagined this collective reaction. While some of them – especially the Baltic states or Poland – are already pursuing a strategy in this direction, others, including Germany, do not plan to sever ties with Moscow.
Conflict changed everything. While aiding and abetting Putin’s war on the one hand and helping Kiev on the other, it is not only paradoxical that anyone in the EU, even Victor Orban’s Hungary, despite being close to Vladimir Putin, has not denied the need to sever all ties. Dependence on Russia. Twenty-seven has already decided to do without Russian coal by August. They are negotiating the possibility of a ban on oil but, for the time being, have come out against Budapest’s denial.
As for gas, at this point there is still no question of imposing sanctions against Moscow. But twenty-seven people know that the Kremlin can decide overnight to cut off electricity, as it did in Poland and Bulgaria, or as it did in Finland. “We expect the Russians to intimidate at any moment.”, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer agrees. So it is better to prepare quickly.
Contacts in Norway, Qatar and Algeria
In the short term, there is no solution to the twenty-seven other than to buy oil and gas elsewhere, maximize the exploitation of existing nuclear power plants, reopen some of them, and reactivate closed coal mines. . In this context, the Commission has already announced that the United States is prepared to increase its supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 15 billion cubic meters by 2022 (i.e. 10% of Russian gas sold annually to the EU) and 50 billion cubic meters by 2030. It will increase its contacts in Norway, Qatar and Algeria and find other supply sources.
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