The European Union ought to stop importing liquefied natural gas from Russia from 2027, the heads of the EU Affairs Committees of the parliaments of the Baltic States and Poland said in a joint communication.

“By continuing to purchase LNG from Russia, the EU maintains its dependency on a country that uses energy as a hybrid weapon and a tool of manipulation; this undermines EU unity and diminishes public trust,” they said.

Imports from Russia should be halted through strong political will, the parliamentarians said. They said existing LNG terminals and the terminals that will be built should fulfil their initial purpose: diversifying gas import routes and enabling the EU to stop importing gas from Russia, not the other way around.

“These capacities must not become a backdoor for Russian gas entering Europe,” they said.

The parliamentarians called on the European Commission, the European Parliament, national parliaments, and the governments of the EU Member States to act urgently to meet the goal set by the European Commission and enforce the deadline of January 1, 2027 for the cessation of imports of gas from Russia.

They said the decision to cease energy imports from Russia must be a long-term commitment. “We must remain steadfast in strengthening our security and resilience by seeking solutions that align with EU values,” the statement says.

The parliamentarians call on continuing diplomatic efforts to strengthen relationships with “reliable” energy suppliers from other regions such as Central Asia, the Middle East, the US, and Norway in order to ensure a stable and diversified energy supply, preventing the EU from replacing its dependency on Russian energy with reliance on other “unstable” suppliers.

The heads of the EU Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland met at the beginning of the week in Vilnius, Lithuania, where they focused on joint priorities, like protection of external borders, and energy security.

Sanctions against the Russian LNG sector are part of the 14th package of sanctions against Moscow, adopted by the EU Council in June. This does not ban EU countries from buying Russian LNG.
Source: Interfax/BNS