German MP calls for diversifying energy supplies to become independent of Russia

This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by Bundestag deputy with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Ulrich Lehte.

“In the long term, we must and will have to completely abandon fossil energy. This also means that we want to gradually reduce our dependencies on Russia and have begun to do so with the coal and oil embargo decided at the European level,” the MP said, adding that replacing Russian energy adequately now is “the current challenge and precondition for doing without Russian energy completely.”

“At this point, we urgently need more diversification, European cooperation, innovations, reliable partnerships with foreign countries and, above all, an expansion of renewable energies,” Ulrich Lechte concluded.

Earlier, the need to achieve energy independence from Russia was expressed in parliaments of Great Britain, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Czech Republic, as well as by members of the European Parliament.

British lawmaker Sir Roger Gale, answering the question about the need for developing nuclear energy by European nations in order to achieve energy independence from Russia, said that he supports such an approach.

German MP with the Alternative for Germany, Matthias Moosdorf, said he stood in support of developing nuclear generation in Europe and achieving energy independence from Russia.

Paulius Saudargas, Vice Speaker of Lithuania’s Seimas, believes that modern nuclear energy technology is safe, causing no significant environmental damage, so their development in European countries is one of the tools to achieve energy independence from Russia. Also, two other main tools for achieving such independence are sanctions on the purchase of Russian energy, diversification of supplies, and development of the corresponding infrastructure.

Parliamentarian with the ruling Czech party STAN, member of the Committee on European Integration and Security Policy Martin Exner stressed that the European Union needs a plan for the complete rejection of Russian energy, which should include the construction of new gas and oil pipelines, the development of nuclear and alternative generation. EU politicians, he believes, should engage with the public to raise awareness of the need for such steps.

Member of the Latvian Parliament Atis Lejins noted that the EU countries should start building and developing infrastructure for the exchange of energy resources in order to achieve independence from Russia.

Member of the European Parliament Petras Auštrevičius, commenting on the need to abandon the European Union's dependency on Russian energy, said that the EU should develop a plan for such a phase-out, coordinating it with national governments, businesses, and investors, and also ensure its technological part.