European Parliament calls for ‘comprehensive and immediate’ embargo on Russian oil and gas

The European Parliament has joined growing pressure to impose a total energy embargo on the Kremlin after the Buddha massacre, This is the turning point of the war in Ukraine. The plenary session of the European Parliament will approve a resolution this Thursday that calls for “Total and direct” veto Imports oil, coal, nuclear fuel and natural gas from Russia.

A need for overwhelming support, including most political forces. In fact, the resolution was signed by the populace, socialists, liberals, the Greens, the radical right, and part of the radical left.The only group that was completely out of the picture was Indentidad y Democracia, where they fought Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini.

MEPs also demanded Completely abandon Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelineswhich directly connects Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukrainian territory. war broke outPrime Minister Olaf Schultz Freeze the Nord Stream 2 that was completed but not yet in service. But Nord Stream 1 still works fine.

To be precise, the Berlin government has just reiterated its refusal to give up Russian gas and oil. “If I follow my heart, everything is immediately embargoed“The liberal finance minister said Christian Lindnerin an interview time magazine. However, Lindner insists a quick exit is not feasible. He argued that “it is questionable whether this will stop the war machine in the short term” and that Germany “will jeopardize its economic and social stability”.

And the Prime Minister of Hungary, Victor Orbanwho just reaffirmed his mission with a broad victoryHe is adamantly opposed to energy embargoes due to his country’s high reliance on Russian gas. As he explained at a news conference, Putin himself visited Moscow shortly before the war broke out and called him to congratulate him on his re-election.

Hungary will not bow to pressure to extend sanctions on Russian oil and gas Orbán has pledged to even pay for imports in rubles, as the Kremlin demands. Budapest has thus parted ways with the European Union, which has so far rejected Moscow’s request and ensured that it will continue to pay its bills in euros.

In the latest package of sanctions following the Buddha massacre, the European Union announced it would ban imports of Russian coal. Russia’s annual revenue is 4 billion euros. “It’s only a small part of the bill,” admits the head of community diplomacy, Joseph Borrell. Objections from Germany, Austria and Hungary prevent extending the veto to oil and gas.

In a speech to the European Parliament, Borrell condemned EU has paid Putin $35bn in energy bills since war broke out, that is, about 1 billion a day. This figure stands in stark contrast to the $1 billion total used to finance arms shipments to Ukraine. The high representative again asked citizens to turn off heating to reduce independence from Russia.

“I know it’s ironic to ask people who don’t have heat to reduce the temperature by 1 degree because they can’t afford it. It can’t be reduced because it’s already 0 degrees. But as a society, we can certainly work to reduce, every kilowatt-hour of Very important. Every unit of energy saved is also a way to contribute to winning this war“, Say.

I think sooner or later Oil and even gas need action”, said European Council President Charles Michel during the same debate. For her part, the Chair of the Commission, Ursula Von der LeyenIt has confirmed that it is already studying how to impose an oil embargo, as well as measures to limit Russia’s gas revenue, such as imposing additional taxes or payments to frozen guarantee accounts.

In a resolution approved on Thursday, the European Parliament “requests Implement a comprehensive and immediate embargo as soon as possible Ban the import of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and natural gas from Russia and abandon Nord Stream 1 and 2 altogether. ”

“The ban on the import of fossil fuels from Russia will have an impact on EU economic growth, with an estimated loss of less than 3% of GDP, while the potential loss to the Russian economy over the same period will reach 30% of GDP, Essential to deter Russian aggression“, assured the European Parliament.

“The fifth set of sanctions must ban the import of coal, oil and gas from Russia,” the socialist group’s president claimed. Iraqis Garcia. “There is no better way to guarantee our energy sovereignty than to stop relying on tyrants who use fossil fuels as a tool of extortion,” Garcia said. “We must sever all economic and diplomatic relations with tyrants today and tomorrow,” the PP leader in Brussels said. dolores montserrat.

“Our reliance on energy and money has led to the slaughter of Ukrainians; the murder of fellow Europeans whose only crime is to dream of freedom. Isn’t it obvious that our gas is stained with the blood of innocents? Aren’t we responsible for funding this monster? ”, condemning the spokesman for Ciudadanos, Luis Garricano.

“The new sanctions package is a step in the right direction, but we must go further. The Greens call for an immediate and complete ban on all Russian gas, oil, coal and nuclear fuel imports. The EU needs to invest heavily in renewables and energy efficiency”, says En Comú Podem MEP, Ernest Urdan.

Russian-Ukrainian War

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