Polish leader Donald Tusk has said Germany should reduce its gas dependence on Russia for the sake of EU foreign policy.
Speaking to press yesterday at a military base in Siemirowice, on Poland’s Baltic Sea coast, he said: “In future, we will not be able to successfully resist against aggressive or expansionist steps by Russia if so many European countries will be dependent on [Russian] gas and will go even further down the road of dependence.”
He singled out Germany ahead of a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to Poland on Wednesday.
“German dependence on Russian gas could effectively limit European sovereignty,” Tusk said.
“It’s not just about Germany, but Germany is a good example of this phenomenon [growing dependence] in recent years.”
Tusk spoke after EU leaders last week considered a broad range of sanctions - including on Russian gas and oil - in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
Russian state firm Gazprom has also threatened to stop deliveries to Ukraine, which transits Russian gas to Europe, over unpaid bills.
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, Russia last year supplied 167 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Europe’s 270 bcm gas imports.
Some EU countries - such as Bulgaria, Finland, and Lithuania - get all their gas from Russia, while Germany relies on Russia for some 40 percent of its supplies.
It also buys large amounts of Russian oil and coal, but it is easier to switch oil and coal providers, unlike gas, which is delivered mainly by fixed pipelines.
In a sign of Germany and Russia’s ever-closer energy relations, Merkel in 2011 turned on the taps at Nord Stream, a €7.4 billion pipeline to bring Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea. (more)
Read the whole story here: http://euobserver.com/foreign/123410