French President Emmanuel Macron.
Photo: Thibault Camus / AP / SCANPIX
Olafs Zvejnieks, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
Politologist: “Putin has smelled the smell of burning. He has already said twice that he is not bluffing or joking …”
How many how big is the Latvian army? Do we really only have 1,800 soldiers? Slaidins replies
VIDEO. It happened! The first naturally occurring magnetotactic bacterium in Latvia was caught
Read other posts
Although the Russian invasion of Ukraine has managed to unite the European Union like never before, it has not been able to solve the main problem: selfishness and countries that think first of their own interests and only then of those. common.
The stakes in the European energy crisis are getting higher and the end of this price race is not yet in sight. Although the direct cause of the current crisis is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, international sanctions against the aggressor state, and Russia’s efforts to harm the sanctions enforcers as much as possible and undermine their unity, the deeper roots of what is happening can be found in the European Union’s passivity and lack of risk diversification: long-term dependence on Russia has turned out to be a lure in the trap in which we ourselves are boarded.
It should be noted that everything said about Europe in general also fully applies to Latvia: the creation of energy alternatives, which in the current conditions of Latvia can only be the production of energy from renewable resources, has been hampered both at the national government level. what a local.
If the overcoming of the dependence on Russian gas, which so far has represented about 40% of all European gas consumption, is entirely achievable, it must be sought, first of all, in the increase of its European energy production, which can be either renewable energy or nuclear energy, since other energy resources, besides coal, Europe does not have, but the use of the latter would mean a serious cross for the Green Course.
But since it is precisely in the Green Course that Europe sees its strategic perspective, at the moment there is no discussion of a possible refusal. The second necessary step is the European Energy Union, which would create a fully integrated European energy market where energy could flow freely across national borders and countries could cooperate with each other. This is not the case at the moment. Finally, the third is to maximize the flow of gas from other possible sources that could replace Russian gas.
It is in this last question that we can see how countries’ selfishness and concern only for their own interests prevent it from being realized. It is the French President Emmanuel Macron who is blocking the completion of the Midi-Catalonia gas pipeline. This pipeline would transport Algerian gas through Spain to the rest of the European Union.
Although the project is supported by Spain, Portugal and Germany, the fact that it is included in “RePowerEU”, a plan to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas is cited as one of three EU projects for which there is interest ” , which the European Commission has assured that it will support and encourage this project, its completion is currently in danger. French President E. Macron, not forgetting to mention European solidarity, has announced that the project will not be able to solve the problem However, the real reasons for the objections are rather to be found in domestic politics and national selfishness.
Over the past decade, France has been the EU’s largest energy exporter thanks to its 56 nuclear reactors, which produce 75% of France’s electricity. At the moment, however, the French have also suffered from the impact of energy prices, as half of the nuclear reactors have recently been shut down for maintenance, as well as due to the rust suddenly discovered in many reactors.
However, the maintenance will be completed at some point and the rust problem will be solved and France will once again want to be a major energy exporter. Therefore, it needs the competition that would be created by the relatively cheap Algerian gas like a dog’s fifth paw. And in a situation where, according to polls, only 51% of French voters support Macron’s actions, they cannot and do not want to fight for the common interests of Europe to the detriment of French companies.
In a situation where many strong words are said in Europe, but not very active actions, countries are forced to resort to their own lifelines. Those who have coal, like Poland, resort to use while turning a blind eye to documents calling for an end to the use of coal.
Those who have peat, as in Finland, burn it, and also in Latvia there are rumors for the resumption of its use in energy. For now, only the need to rebuild the burners of the boilers, in addition to the fact that the cogeneration plants located in the city centers lack adequate space for the positioning and storage of dust generating fuels such as peat, as well as current ideas on hoped for the cleanliness of the air in the cities, which the use of peat does not actually satisfy, for now they are holding back.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech on the current state of the European Union last week was full of important initiatives. However, there was no proposal to set a price cap for Russian gas. If such were introduced, Russia threatened to stop selling gas altogether. Leyen cannot afford to make such suggestions when alternative gas supply routes are blocked by the second largest EU member state.
Themes
