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“We are dependent on Russian gas, and the first thing we will do is remove that dependence,” he said. Joseph BorrellThe EU foreign affairs chief on Wednesday asked all European citizens to contribute to cutting EU funding for the war. Vladimir Putin In Ukraine, reducing gas consumption by lowering the heating in their homes and making “personal efforts”.
“Putin thinks our addiction to Russian gas is enough to get us out of the Ukraine war. He thinks our energy ties to Russia will immobilize us. Of course Our energy relationship with Russia constrains usbecause the foreign exchange reserves we pay each year to Russia for oil, gas and coal are equivalent to our foreign reserves frozen in Western banks where the Russian Central Bank deposits them,” Borrell said in a speech to the European Parliament.
“We have blocked (accumulated reserves) stocks, but we have not blocked the flow,” said the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. According to his data, EU spends 700 million euros a day to import gas, oil and coal from Russia. This money is not to increase the well-being of the Russian people, but to strengthen the war machine of the Kremlin.
“So the first thing we’re going to do is cut the umbilical cord that links our economy to the Russian economy and cut off the flow that allows it to build up reserves to fund the war,” Borrell stressed.This can be achieved through initiatives such as Brussels’ recently announced plans Cut reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of the year“It’s a tough goal, but it’s achievable if we’re really committed to it.”
“This requires macroeconomic measures, technical measures and Also called on European citizens to turn off the heating in their homes. He also asked everyone to do a personal effort Reduce gas consumption, just as we reduce water consumption in droughts, just as we wear masks to fight the virus,” insisted the EU’s foreign affairs chief.
“What we did with Covid-19, we must do for UkraineIt must be a mobilization of spirit, activity and personal attitude, with a collective commitment to face a task of unquestionably historic importance, we started too late, but better late than never,” he insisted. you.
“Because when Russia invaded Crimea, we said we had to reduce our dependence on Russian gas. From then to now, we have not reduced it, but increased it. Now systematically, permanently, continuously almost one political crusadeEuropeans have reduced their reliance on Russian gas,” said the former Spanish foreign minister.
“Liberal values will not be defended without the political commitment of citizens Willing to pay for it. If we are unwilling to take more united, coordinated action and pay the inevitable price of any structural transformation, such as one that represents a change in the energy mix of a continent, it will be pure fantasy as a whole,” concludes Borrell.