Time.news – The European Union “has done its homework” and is “ready to react on two fronts to any attack on Ukraine by Russia”. On the one hand with “a solid package of sanctions, unprecedented, which will put maximum pressure on the Russian economy ”, on the other hand a“ plan to guarantee the supply of gas to the European Union ”if Moscow, in retaliation, were to turn off its taps. She hardly seems worried, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenwhich exposed its strategy in an interview with a small group of international news agencies, including the Time.news.
“In the event of any further aggression by Russia against Ukraine, the European Commission is ready to respond and impose severe and immediate costs on Russia, with a solid and comprehensive package of sanctions”, explains the executive leader who on the evening of On Tuesday he had a phone call on the matter from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
I spoke to Prime Minister @BorisJohnson on the situation surrounding Ukraine.
are coordinating closely, along with the US and Canada, on sanctions in case of further Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/VjxwMrQiD7
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 15, 2022
“We are fully aligned with our partners in the United States, Great Britain and Canada on this. And it will be an unprecedented range of economic, financial and export control sanctions that will create maximum impact on the Russian economy and its system. financial “, he assured.
“We have worked hard to be able to give a unified answer with our partners in a span of a couple of days “, he adds, replying to those who criticize the Brussels institutions for being too cumbersome, especially when it comes to foreign policy.
Von der Leyen, however, is not limited to contingency. “The crisis demonstrates the utmost need to achieve independence from Russian gas”. The main road is obviously the European Green deal with massive investments in renewables. But not only. The diversification of supplies is also strategic. And this also calls into question the Nord Stream 2 project, which is so dear to your Germany.
“In the meantime, it should be clarified that it is not yet operational. The certification process is ongoing at the level of the German authorities. Subsequently, the Commission will give its opinion “, explains von der Leyen.” In this context we will be very vigilant if and how the security of energy supply for Europe is affected. It seems difficult to justify whether an increased supply by the the producer himself contributes to promoting the security of Europe’s energy supply “, complains the former German minister.
Returning to the strategy to react to the eventual Russian aggression, the Commission is dealing with the hypothesis of a cut in Russian gas supplies. A hypothesis that is far from remote. “The risk is clear,” admits von der Leyen. “That’s why we’ve been working very hard since last month to mitigate this risk.” He adds.
To come to the rescue there is the season but it is not enough. “Since we are now a month and a half in spring, a period in which we know that the demand for energy is reduced because the need for heating decreases, our models show that for a partial interruption of the supply or further reduction of the delivery by Gazprom, we are safe “, assures the president.
Numbers can help you understand the picture better. “24% of all energy in the EU comes from natural gas, of which 90% is imported. Of this 90%, 40% comes from Gazprom, the Russian gas supplier. There are two sources: one is the reserve, the other the pipelines. The reserves must be replenished during the summer in preparation for the winter. Now, if we look at the total reserves we are at 34%, which is equivalent to 34 billion cubic meters. But it is interesting that the largest supplier, Gazprom, has its reserve under 15%. And it is strange behavior for a company that does not take advantage of a situation of very high demand and very high prices to maximize profit. ”
Gazprom’s unreliability is therefore certified. “We talked to other reliable gas suppliers, especially LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). For example, the United States, Qatar, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Nigeria to increase their supply to the European Union. We also spoke to large LNG buyers to ask if they can transfer contracts to the Union, “he explains.
“Last week I spoke with the Prime Minister of South Korea and this morning (yesterday, ed) I spoke with the Prime Minister of Japan who is determined to transfer contracts to the EU, so that suppliers, such as Qatar, for example, can they divert their excess deliveries, originally planned for Japan, to the European Union These efforts are now bearing fruit. And this is good. Let’s see for example that the European Union had record deliveries in January of LNG: 120 ships which are equivalent to approximately 10 billion cubic meters of gas “.
And the Union claims it has prepared for even the worst. “We have analyzed all the possible scenarios in the event that Russia decides to partially or totally interrupt the supply of gas to the EU. As I said, with all the measures we have taken, we are safe. Of course, if Russia were to completely cut off the flow of gas to the European Union, additional measures will be needed. Member States have contingency plans in the event of a total outage and will be able to handle demand, protecting private consumers. We have a diverse energy mix between Member States, as you know. And it is their competence “, explains the EU leader.
“Dependence on gas, for example, differs greatly from state to state but we have worked with all member states to reduce the vulnerability from Gazprom and Russia. We have done our homework and we are protected ”.
So this winter, in one way or another, we face it. What about the future? The Brussels executive says it has learned lessons from the invasion of Crimea. “We have increased and expanded our pipeline network. For example, the South Corridor is now operational. And again: the gas pipeline from Norway, Poland to the Baltic states will be operational very soon. And both, of course, increase supplies if necessary, ”confirms von der Leyen.
“We have increased our LNG terminals to a total capacity of 160 billion cubic metersstrengthened the pan-European network of gas pipelines and interconnectors, so with LNG terminals and gas pipelines you can direct gas wherever you want in the EU “. Gas pipelines and interconnectors that “will be the backbone for the future European network for green hydrogen”.