Brussels — The European Union’s government said Wednesday that it would need to immediately and significantly reduce its use of natural gas, for a total of 15% reduction from now to spring, to prevent Russia’s major crisis of reducing gas exports. Stated. By the people of the wealthiest countries in the world.
“Russia is threatening us,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, when introducing EU plans to reduce gas consumption. “Russia uses energy as a weapon.”
A few months before the invasion of Ukraine in February, it overturned aspects of the energy market and other global economies: “Russia deliberately kept gas supplies as low as possible despite high gas prices. “.
Russia’s gas flow, which accounts for 40% of EU consumption, was less than one-third of the normal average in June. European gas storage facilities are usually nearly full at this point of the year in preparation for winter, but there is not enough stock to deal with such instability and shortages, which could disrupt industry and private life as well. there is.
“We need to be prepared for the potential complete turmoil of Russian gas, which is a likely scenario,” said Von der Leyen.
The European Union has already banned most of Russia’s oil imports after in-depth negotiations this spring between 27 member states, with the exception of some small countries such as Hungary and Slovakia. Plans to reduce gas usage, unlike oil embargoes, do not require unanimous consent and are expected to be much easier to adopt at the EU Energy Ministers’ meeting in Brussels next Tuesday.
If Member States agree to the plan and the new legislation that accompanies it, Block’s executive body, the Commission, may eventually force the State to stick to gas consumption restrictions if it does not voluntarily. I can do it. The Commission’s proposal did not specify which enforcement mechanism would be used.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on Wednesday that his country had broader ambitions in Ukraine that it had previously recognized. The latest sign that the war is not over, despite the suspension of the eastern offensive in Moscow. Moscow repeatedly changed its description of the purpose of the war and made contradictory statements about whether to overthrow the Ukrainian government or annex the territory.
In recent months, the Kremlin has waged wars primarily to occupy the eastern Donbass region, but Lavrov talked about retaining occupied territories in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as well. A US National Security Council spokesman said Wednesday that Russia would annex the conquered territories and justify it with a fake referendum.
European public opinion is divided on whether supporting Ukraine is worth the sacrifice, and Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want Europeans to pay high for Ukraine’s freedom and their leaders Is pressured to sign an agreement with Moscow.
Still, the malaise of the people in Europe’s support for Ukraine may be exaggerated. In Germany, the EU’s largest country and most dependent on Russia’s gas imports, only 22 percent last week wanted the government to curb support for Ukraine to lower energy prices. was. 70% of respondents said they hope the German government will continue to support Ukraine strongly, despite the economic downturn.
In public opinion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife, Olena Zelenska, addressed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to increase her weapons to protect herself from what she called the “Russian hunger game.” I asked.
Better understanding the Russian-Ukrainian war
“There is an unprovoked invasive war on terror against my country,” she added. “Russia is destroying our people.”
One of the obstacles to the EU’s plan to reduce gas usage is to uniformly demand that countries reduce consumption by 15% between August 1st and March 31st. This can be considered unfair to other countries such as Italy, Spain and France. Buy a lot of gas from Russia.
The main argument that involves all EU member states, despite different levels of vulnerability, is that one blow is all, because the block economies are interrelated.
“The choice we have today is to wait for an emergency that now causes or forces us to solidarity,” said France, a senior Dutch politician who is the emperor of the Commission’s energy and climate. Timmermans said.
He said gas savings around the EU would create reserve capacity for the countries most needed in the winter and prevent member countries from suffering economic shocks due to power shortages.
Von der Leyen has had a political impact on seemingly economic problems, and this approach has hit Putin, who wants to disperse discord within the European Union, and Brock and his most powerful. He said it would undermine the country economically and politically. Since the beginning of the war, European leaders have decided to have an adverse effect on him and have taken the first step towards making Ukraine a member state of the EU. This is what Putin tried to stop.
“Putin is trying to push us away this winter, so if we stick together he will fail dramatically,” said Fonde Araien.
Russia has already cut or completely reduced its gas supply to 12 EU countries, threatening to not completely reconnect critical pipelines that are offline for maintenance on Thursday. There are few alternatives to blocks. Putin suggested late Tuesday that natural gas would resume its flow through the pipeline to Europe, but warned that supply could be significantly reduced.
Experts say reducing gas demand, along with the EU’s efforts to bring in new suppliers, is the only way to survive relatively intact this winter.
Brussels think-tank expert Simone Tagliapietra said the Commission’s plans are “going in the right direction,” but much depends on clear and honest communication between the government and Europeans. I warned that.
“This requires serious and candid communication with the public,” he said. “Government needs to ask people to reduce consumption, and Europe needs to have the courage to tell its citizens that it is in the midst of a situation that could represent the greatest energy crisis in history. . “
The Commission itself recognizes the importance of appealing directly to the public, and an important part of its plan is a mass media campaign that encourages people to play a saving role, primarily by reducing home heating and cooling. Said that.
The Commission predicts that Russia’s gas flow turmoil could reduce the already deteriorating economic growth forecast of this year by 1.5 percentage points from 2.7% and even put the block in recession next year. I am.
When the war began, the European Union responded with sanctions against Russia, but blocking energy imports was seen as a distant outlook at best. Within a few months, the position had settled enough to impose an almost complete embargo on Russian oil by the end of this year. Still, Russia’s gas ban remains off the table as much of Europe relies on Russian gas and lacks alternative sources.
Gas makes up a quarter of the block’s energy mix, fueling factories and power plants, and is overwhelmingly used by Europeans to warm their homes. The great turmoil affects not only industrial production, but also the ability of Europeans to stay warm during the winter.
European authorities are struggling to find alternative sources of gas and other fuels. Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi has signed an agreement to increase his Algerian gas imports by 20 percent in the short term. French President Emmanuel Macron has increased the supply of diesel from the United Arab Emirates. This is one of many European deals devoted to more polluted fossil fuels such as oil and coal to compensate for the decline in gas supply.
The European Commission is also trying to secure more gas from other suppliers established for European countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and Qatar, but its neighbor and close ally Norway has already moved to the block. We are increasing the supply.
Another short-term move is to import liquefied natural gas from the United States after President Biden pledged during his visit to Brussels in March, but experts say it is an expensive alternative due to limited supply. It warns that.
Some of Europe’s whirlwind commercial diplomacy will take years to bear fruit. This week, Ms. Von de Araien visited Azerbaijan to secure additional gas by 2027.
