At the Energy Council on 17 March, European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen reiterated the urgent need to move away from the last imports of Russian gas and other fossil fuels, but did not give a new date for the presentation of the Commission’s ‘roadmap’ for definitively abandoning these imports into the EU (see EUROPE 13599/11).
“I cannot share the exact date of when we will publish it, but it will be very soon [...]”, he repeated.
On his arrival at the Council, the Ukrainian Energy Minister, German Galuschenko, also explained that he had not seen any proposal at this stage, but that discussions were continuing “in line with the EU’s REPowerEU plan”.
“I don’t have any messages that EU changes the strategy. All the issues concerning the gas transit, everything what could be discussed, is only in line with the EU goals”, he asserted.
In the margins of the Council, Mr Galuschenko held talks with Commissioner Jørgensen and the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, on the consequences of the withdrawal from the agreement on the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine on 1 January. This decision, which Ukraine has no intention of reversing, has been criticised by Hungary and Slovakia, who have been insisting for months that this gas supply route should be maintained (see EUROPE 13565/5, 13575/19).
“It is important for us to facilitate talks between Hungary and Ukraine, hopefully to see if we can find solutions to secure the energy supply even better in the region in the future”, explained Commissioner Jørgensen. At a press conference, he acknowledged that the opinions expressed during the trilateral exchange remained divergent, but that the atmosphere was “open” and that the dialogue would continue in the future.
As part of the Council meeting, Mr Galuschenko held more wide-ranging discussions with the European energy ministers on issues relating to Ukraine’s energy security, at a time when the country has been beset by repeated Russian attacks on its energy system over the past year. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)