Russian gas supplies to be discussed at EU summit today
The heads of state and government of the EU member states will discuss on Friday, in particular, the consequences of the reduction of gas supplies from Russia and the search for alternative suppliers.
As Censor.NET reports, this was reported by Ukrinform with reference to the APA.
"The heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries will discuss on the second day of the summit in Brussels on Friday the consequences of falling Russian gas supplies and rising prices. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced an accelerated search for alternative gas supplies from other countries. The Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Kroo called for joint gas purchases by EU countries," the statement said.
Before the meeting, the Belgian Prime Minister called for the formation of an "energy bloc": "We need to start buying energy together, we need to put an upper limit on price growth and make plans together to survive the winter."
It is noted that the European Commission should prepare appropriate plans. At the same time, Germany is currently hampering joint gas purchases, citing, in particular, the fact that it is within the competence of companies.
Irish Prime Minister Michal Martin has also expressed concern about the gas shortage. "We are facing a very difficult winter in terms of the energy crisis," he said on the sidelines of the EU summit on Friday.
For his part, the German Chancellor expressed confidence that Germany and the entire EU were well prepared for a possible suspension of gas supplies from Russia. According to him, "all measures have been taken" to import energy resources from other countries. "These are efforts that need to be accelerated now," the German prime minister said.
Another topic of discussion at the EU summit will be inflation. Russia's draft declaration of the EU summit blames Russia for the sharp rise in energy and food prices and the use of energy as a weapon.
A two-day summit of EU heads of state and government was reportedly launched in Brussels on Thursday. The key topics of the first day were Russian aggression, as well as granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates for EU membership.
