“The European Union, in order to remain united, must adopt sanctions gradually to convince all Member States to go further than what they did the time before. When sanctions are imposed on Russia it is clear that they will hurt us a little too but they must damage Moscow more, which is why the EU is proceeding like this. Now the Commission has proposed to sanction coal, but everything remains on the table, even oil and gas ». Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European Commission with responsibility for the Green Deal, who worked at the Dutch embassy in St. Petersburg told the Corriere.
«I watch the Russian news almost every evening, I also read the Russian newspapers: the rhetoric that denies the reason for existing of Ukraine has increased considerably. We cannot allow Putin to win this war because he will not stop with Ukraine, his vision of the Russian empire is a threat to all of Europe, ”explains Timmermans. “If we believe in our values and our freedom, we must help Kiev defend itself. Not only Ukraine’s freedom is at stake but ours as well, it is an ideological confrontation between democracy and autocracy. We must stick together. What the Russians did to Bucha is pure barbarism. ‘
Ursula von der Leyen’s deputy assures us that «in the Commission we are ready to do whatever is necessary. When the EU is willing to go further, we will be ready. Now coal will be affected, but it is not excluded that in the future oil and gas will also be affected ».
Prime Minister Mario Draghi also spoke about it yesterday in the press conference following the approval of the Economic and Financial Document. “Do we prefer peace or the air conditioner on? This is the question we must ask ourselves, “said the premier. «Let’s go with the EU, if it proposes an embargo on gas, we are happy to follow. What we want is the most effective instrument for peace. We ask ourselves if the price of gas can be exchanged for peace ».
What if Putin closes the taps immediately in response to the sanctions? “If the stop to hydrocarbons were to take place tomorrow there would be difficulties that would in any case be overcome, it will have a cost that we can however face”, explains Timmermans. «The EU is an exporter on agricultural products. Sure there will be less sunflower oil on supermarket shelves but food safety will be guaranteed. The problems will be in Africa and in the Middle East and we will have to help them ».
Meanwhile, we are considering how to accelerate the end of the EU’s dependence on Russian gas and oil. “We are working on the RePowerEu project,” confirms Timmermans. «To be independent we must develop renewable sources as Italy is already doing: wind, sun, biogas, geothermal. They allow us to offer European citizens less expensive energy. But we must also intervene on the energy efficiency of homes. I spoke to the executive director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol and he told me that if we double the commitment to improve the use of energy in homes, we can save 20 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year ”.
But does not relying on the United States for liquefied gas mean moving from one dependency to another? “The fact that the Americans are willing to give us almost a third of the gas we receive from Russia is very positive, we must recognize that this strategic relationship with the US is helping us,” he replies. “And then we have to negotiate contracts for liquefied gas with other countries: Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco. We also need to diversify the supply for classic gas. And we must offer these countries a strategic relationship on hydrogen as well. In Sweden they make steel with green hydrogen, it’s my dream also for Ilva in Taranto. We will never have to be dependent on just one country again ”.
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