🎥 Hooked on Russian Gas? How to build Europe’s resilience
Webinar, organized by the Friends of European Russia took place on 16 February 2022.
Beyond achieving environmental goals, the European Green Deal will drastically reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s gas supply: gas imports are estimated to fall by 60-70% in 15 years. This is a cause of major concern for Gazprom and the Kremlin. Gas export is not only a tool of political influence, it is also a major source of revenue that maintains the current economic and political structure in Russia. In other words, Green Deal has the potential to put an end to the Kremlin’s authoritarian rule.
Acting in tandem, Gazprom and the Kremlin have taken strategic coordinated action across the EU to ensure its continued dependence on natural gas for energy. Gazprom has deliberately reduced its gas supply to Europe during this winter season, which led to an unprecedented surge in energy prices across the EU countries, putting in financial strain many households of European citizens (V. Milov, How Gazprom Manipulated the EU Gas Market).
The Kremlin has been exploiting the resulting fears and public dissatisfaction to convince Europeans to abandon Green Deal, depicted as an “expensive” energy market reform. Finally, the pressure with gas prices is used to persuade German authorities to certify Nord Stream II pipeline, which will only further increase EU dependency. This situation is also used as part of the military threat against Ukraine, as a way to pressurize some governments in EU to stay reluctant to deliver defence weaponry to Ukraine. (A. Kubilius, Gazprom and Green Deal: who will win? Gazprom is manipulating the deliveries of gas to European markets. Why?) .
How can the EU protect its energy market from Russia’s manipulation? How can the EU strengthen its resilience and to defend its political will to implement Green Deal against hybrid and antagonistic lobbyism of the Kremlin and Gazprom? How can EU become more energy independent and more geopolitically secure in the face of Kremlin military threats? How can the EU move beyond protecting its internal energy market and help Eastern Partnership countries in the face of mounting pressure from Russia, including potential cuts of gas supply?
Panel discussion:
✅ Andrius KUBILIUS, Member of the European Parliament, standing rapporteur on Russia in the European Parliament
✅ Peter LIESE, Member of the European Parliament, EPP Coordinator in ENVI Committee, Rapporteur on Fit for 55 Package items
✅ Vladimir MILOV, politician, associate of the Sakharov Prize Laureate Alexei Navalny, former Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia
✅ Milosz KARPINSKI, Energy Security Analyst, International Energy Agency
✅ Dr. Frank UMBACH, Head of Research, European Cluster for Climate, Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS)/Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), University of Bonn
✅ Gergely MOLNAR, Natural Gas Analyst, International Energy Agency
✅ Oleksandr SCHERBA, Chief Advisor to the CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine