Borrell, to European citizens: “Cut off the gas in your homes, reduce the dependency of those who attack Ukraine”

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, highlighted this Wednesday the need to stand up to the challenges that Putin has launched to the entire world after starting the war in Ukraine, starting with reducing the EU’s dependence on imports of Russian products such as gas. This was highlighted by the European leader in a speech in Brussels.

“We Europeans need to face the challenges that we have not sought but that the world projects on us, and Ukraine is the first. Cut the gas in your houses, reduce the dependency of those who attack Ukraine”, Borrell claimed during his appearance, also calling for “more commitment to collective defense, which is an obligation of the treaties, to which we have paid too little attention until now”.

For Borrell, “what we have done during the coronavirus must be done with Ukraine. A collective commitment to a historic task.” For this reason, he has called directly to lower the heating in houses, comparing said action with the use of the mask during the pandemic. In this regard, he added: “We started late, but better late than never“, he pointed out.

Borrell’s statements come just one day after the European Commission unveiled a plan to respond to rising energy prices, replenish gas reserves for next winter. Specifically, it proposes the implementation of a standard to ensure gas storage throughout the European Union up to at least 90% of its capacity before October of each year.

According to Brussels, currently Russia supplies 45% of the gas imported by the European Union, as well as 25% of oil and 45% of coal. Although dependence on France or Spain is relatively low -20% and 10%, respectively-, in Germany 60% of the gas consumed comes from Russia and in other countries such as Finland it is 100%.