The EU Commission will significantly speed up the pace of the EU's farewell to Russian gas. In the proposal for the 19th sanctions package against Russia, the EU Commission proposes for the first time to impose sanctions on liquefied natural gas from Russia.
At the same time, the deadline for the phase-out is being brought forward from 1 January 2028 to 1 January 2027. This is stated by the EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen.
- Europe unfortunately continues to import liquefied natural gas, also known as LNG, on a large scale from Russia. This is of course completely unacceptable. It will really matter to Putin that we will now sanction the purchase of LNG. We will remove a stream of profit from him with the proposal, says Dan Jørgensen.
The proposal comes after US President Donald Trump has demanded that the EU stop buying Russian energy in an attempt to pressure Russia to make peace.
To secure energy for Europe, the EU Commission has agreed to buy energy worth 750 billion dollars in the US in the recent trade agreement with the US. However, it is not only the pressure from the US, but also Russia's continued warfare that, according to Dan Jørgensen, has caused the EU Commission to tighten its course.
- There are two things that are of great importance. One is that Putin refuses to sit down at the negotiating table and is even escalating the conflict by sending drones over European soil.
- In addition, it is really welcome that there is also pressure from the other side of the Atlantic, where the US is actively leaning in and putting pressure on the EU member states that have been reluctant to impose sanctions, says Dan Jørgensen.
The EU Commission is dependent on support from the EU countries for the 19th sanctions package to become a reality.
When it comes to sanctions against Russia, Hungary in particular has previously been a stumbling block. But other EU countries without easy access to ports where LNG from, for example, the US can be imported have also been skeptical about targeting Russian gas. This applies to Slovakia and Austria, among others.
But with concrete pressure from Donald Trump, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, may be more easily persuaded to agree to the sanctions against Russia, is the hope in Brussels.
- We hope to get the countries on board quickly. It should be an alarm bell ringing louder than ever that Putin is sending drones over European soil. I also think that it is having an impact in some capitals that President Trump is saying so clearly that the US is also calling on Europe to step up the sanctions pressure. So overall, I think we are in a better place now than we were before, says Dan Jørgensen.
He hopes that the EU Commission's proposal will emphasize to the US that Europe is doing everything it can to pressure Putin to the negotiating table.
- This is part of what will ensure that Putin comes to the negotiating table, so that we can get the peace we all want, says Dan Jørgensen.
/ritzau/
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