The president of the European Commission (CE), Úrsula von der Leyen, has celebrated this Sunday the advances of the EU When it comes to independent of Russian energy and has warned that Moscow is threatening European infrastructure. He also claimed that “it is time” that the EU assumes her safety and defense in her “own hands.”
“Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 45% of our gas, 50% of our coal and almost a third of our oil came from Russia,” he said during an act in Vilna to celebrate the synchronization of the electrical networks of Baltic countries with the continental European area. So, In response to the invasion of Ukraine, Europe “acted and cut” His dependence on Russian fossil fuels, said Von der Leyen.
“We stop importing Russian coal. We cut the purchases of Russian crude until leaving them in 3%. We reduced gas imports by 75%,” added the president of the European Commission, who has considered that The future of Europe are renewable energiesspecifying that these benefit both consumers and industry and now generate more electricity than all combined fossil fuels. Despite this, he has indicated that it is necessary “Go further” And for this, complete a “European Energy Union”, so that energy flows freely through the continent.
On the other hand, von der Leyen has also warned that Russia is “threatening” the European infrastructure and testing the defenses of the Member States, spreading “chaos and fear.” Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary that in this case Europe follows the example of the Baltic countries and reinforces the cybersecurity of their electrical networks.
Under this scenario, this same Sunday Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have synchronized Successly its electrical networks With the synchronous area of continental Europe, after disconnecting on Saturday from the Russian and Belarusian network, with which they were linked since Soviet times, a step they had been preparing since 2007.
EU defense issues
In addition, von der Leyen see imperative that the European Union begins to assume in its “own hands” the issues related to security and defense, given that “The ally that is the United States has adopted a new agenda.”
“The European Union is willing to A robust dialogue with the United States Amid possible uncertainties, and we recognize the possibility of certain challenges for which we are prepared, “he said.
The relationship with the new Trump administration represents, for von der Leyen, an incentive to promote this new reality in the field of European defense. “It is time, and it has been being for a long time, to take our safety and defense in our own hands, “he said. Despite this, he has valued that” NATO remains the foundation of defense, but a passionate defense is needed “because” modern war requires a scale, a Technology and coordination too large so that any country can handle them alone. “
“This is where European cooperation has to live up. We will need financing, both public and private, as we have discussed in the European Council earlier this week,” he said. In this regard, von der Leyen has stated that the European Commission is preparing a strategy about the future of defense European that will present to its heads of state and government in mid -March.
#Von #der #Leyen #celebrates #European #advances #independence #Russian #energy #asks #assumes #defense
