EU parliamentarians call for immediate halt to russian lng imports

Parliamentarians from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland have called on EU authorities to cease importing liquid gas from Russia as soon as possible. They want to strengthen relations with suppliers from other parts of the world.

Continued LNG purchases from Russia enable the EU to maintain its dependence on a country that uses energy as a "hybrid weapon and a tool of manipulation." "This undermines EU unity and reduces public trust," emphasized the joint statement by parliamentarians from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.

The declaration, published by the Estonian parliament (Riigikogu), was addressed to the European Commission, European Parliament, national parliaments, and member state governments.

The signatories pointed out that LNG terminals that have been created and those that are planned should fulfill their original purpose, i.e., diversify the sources of raw material origin, including by stopping imports from Russia, and not the opposite.

"Every euro paid to Russia for energy helps finance its war against Ukraine and poses a direct threat to the EU," the deputies declared, simultaneously calling for further diplomatic actions to strengthen cooperation with reliable energy suppliers from Central Asia, the Middle East, the USA, and Norway.

Meanwhile, an alternative to importing gas from Russia could be biogas production. Although the scale of production will not be enough for biogas alone to replace natural gas from Russia, it could be an important element in diversifying the energy mix.