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Von der Leyen: Growing evidence Kremlin is using ‘gas supplies as political leverage’
(EurActiv, 8 Feb 2022) Despite record demand and high gas prices in European markets, Russia’s state-owned Gazprom has been exporting historically low amounts of gas to the EU, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (7 February).
Europe is currently amid an energy crisis and suffering historically high electricity prices, primarily driven by high gas prices but Gazprom has “no interest at the moment in increasing supplies to us, despite peak prices and exuberant demand,” von der Leyen told attendees of the Europe 2022 conference.
“There is growing evidence that the Kremlin continues to use gas supplies as political leverage,” she added.
The Commission President’s comments coincide with the EU coming to terms with its energy dependency on Russia. The ongoing military muscle-flexing at the Ukrainian border by the Kremlin has only served to increase concerns about Europe’s energy security.
“Europe imports 90% of its gas, and more than 40% of that comes from Russia,” noted von der Leyen.
While not all EU countries are as dependent on Russian gas, larger ones like Germany and Poland and several smaller states like Austria, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary depend almost entirely on Russian gas.
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