Brussels/Washington DC, 24 May 2022 (TDI): The European Union (EU) Commission and the United States of America (USA) released a joint statement on European Energy Security.
The statement has been released in response to Russia’s demonstrations that it is an unreliable supplier of energy. Moreover, the EU and the US have condemned Russia.
Russia has demonstrated that it is an unreliable supplier of energy.
The 🇪🇺 and 🇺🇸 condemn Russia’s use of energy blackmail and reaffirm their commitment to strengthening Europe’s energy security.
Our joint statement ↓
— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) May 24, 2022
EU Commission and US Joint Statement
This results from Russia’s actions by firstly, cutting off electricity and natural gas to Finland in response to the Western sanctions. Secondly, stopping natural gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria, and threatening similar actions against other nations of Europe.
Therefore, the European Commission and the United States condemned Russia’s use of energy blackmail. Following this, they both reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening Europe’s energy security.
Efforts are in progress across Europe and from the Nordics to the Balkans. The efforts are to diversify supplies and lower dependence on Russian gas.
Finland and Estonia are connected by the Balticconnector and it raises the security of supply for Finland and the region. Balticconnector is a bi-directional natural gas pipeline between Ingå, Finland, and Paldiski, Estonia.
On 1 May, the Poland-Lithuania Gas Interconnector began its commercial operation that reinforces the optionality and resilience of the whole Baltic gas market.
Furthermore, the European Commission and the United States understand the pressure of taking decisive action to lower energy imports from Russia.
Thereby, they are united in partnering to address the challenges under their joint Task Force on Energy Security. As declared on 25 March by Presidents von der Leyen and Biden.
The EU Commission and the US are determined to proceed to work through the Task Force to diversify Europe’s supply of natural gas while at the same time accelerating the deployment of energy efficiency & smart technologies in European homes and businesses.
Also, they aim to electrify heating and increase clean energy output to reduce the demand for fossil fuels. Conclusively, the EU Commission and the US accepted Finland’s contract.
The contract includes leasing a floating LNG import terminal from a US provider. It will be operational before the end of the year 2022.
