"EU, no return to Russian oil and gas" - Economy Chief Dombrovskis: We must strengthen sanctions
European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, said the EU "should not" seek help from fossil fuels and cheap Russian gas as the energy crisis continues.
"We should strengthen sanctions against Russia, not ease them, because Russia is a country that benefits from this conflict in the Middle East and from higher energy prices, making significant profits, so we should not ease it further," Dombrovskis said.
Asked whether the EU would lift some of its sanctions targeting Russian oil and gas to support families facing gigantic energy bills, Dombrovskis ruled out the possibility and said there is a "strategic decision" to continue moving away from Moscow.
"We saw as early as 2022 that Russia tried to use its fossil fuel supplies as a tool for blackmail and manipulation, and we paid a very expensive economic price for this dependence on Russia, so it makes no sense to go back to that," he said.
Europe's economy is set to weaken this year as the war in Iran and ongoing tensions in the Middle East have caused the second-largest energy crisis in five years, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Dombrovskis said there was no risk of Europe experiencing power outages, a concern that had emerged during the 2022 energy crisis. EU lawmakers have pushed to formally halt all remaining Russian gas flows by 2027 and permanently cut off oil imports earlier than expected.
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