EU turns to Israel for gas after ‘blackmail’ by Russia over Ukraine war support
- ‘Since the beginning of the war, Russia has deliberately cut off its gas supplies … in retaliation for our support to Ukraine,’ EU chief said
- There have been talks since March on establishing the legal framework to enable more Israeli gas exports to Europe via Egypt
The European Union wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel in light of Russia’s use of gas supplies to “blackmail” its members over Ukraine conflict, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
Her remarks came as Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, also visiting Israel, said Rome was seeking to boost gas supplies from Israel as EU members eye options to diminish their reliance on Russian energy.
“The Kremlin has used our dependency on Russian fossil fuels to blackmail us,” von der Leyen said in a speech at the Ben Gurion University in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
“Since the beginning of the war, Russia has deliberately cut off its gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, and Dutch and Danish companies, in retaliation for our support to Ukraine.”
But Moscow’s conduct “only strengthens our resolve to break free of our dependence on Russian fossil fuels”, she said, noting the EU was “exploring ways to step up our energy cooperation with Israel”, with work on an underwater power cable and a gas pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean.