The era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe is “coming to an end”, European Conference President Ursula von der Leyen said as she opened a debate on a just peace for Ukraine in the European Parliament on 7 May.
The European Commission head called the rejection of Russian fossil fuels one of the three important moments for achieving a lasting peace in Ukraine. She noted that before the full-scale invasion, the EU countries paid 12bn euros a month to Russia for energy. Now this amount is 1.8 billion. The share of gas imports from Russia has fallen from 45 per cent to 13 per cent. Oil imports have fallen tenfold.
“Some people still say that we should open the tap “again” for Russian gas and oil,” said the European Commission president, apparently referring to Slovakia and Hungary, which are resisting the rejection of Russian energy sources.
She expressed her belief that such a decision would be a historic mistake and the EU would not allow it to happen:
“Russia has repeatedly proved that it is not a reliable supplier. Putin has already cut off gas supplies to Europe in 2006, 2009, 2014, 2021 and throughout the war. How many more times does it take to draw conclusions? Dependence on Russia hurts not only our security but also our economy. Our energy prices cannot be determined by a hostile neighbour.”
Von der Leyen also thanked the United States for its help with the purchase of liquefied natural gas.
“Thanks to our partners, we have reduced our dependence on Russia. Let’s remember: we remember how the United States immediately came to the rescue with liquefied natural gas during the crisis,” she said.
At the same time, there is now some concern among EU officials that the bloc already buys more than half of its liquefied natural gas from the United States, which is not very consistent with its policy of diversifying suppliers.
The day before, the European Commission unveiled a plan that would break up gas contracts already signed with Russia to get rid of dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
According to the new plan, the decision to ban the purchase of Russian gas and oil can be made under the trade policy, which requires enough votes from the majority of member states to approve, meaning that Hungary and Slovakia will not be able to veto them.