[ad_1]
Russian conscript in Belgorod region says men are in ‘protest’
The leaders, meeting in Prague for informal talks, are unlikely to come up with concrete measures, officials said, but should tell their energy and finance ministers which of the several available solutions to pursue further. Finding a solution is difficult because the 27 EU countries have different energy needs, suppliers and energy markets – meaning that the drop in Russian gas supplies and resulting jump in energy prices has hit some countries harder than others.
Fifteen EU countries want a price cap on gas, but do not agree on the details of how it should be done. Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark oppose price caps, worried such a measure would disrupt the market and make it difficult for them to buy the gas they need to keep their countries running.
The European Commission will present several options to choose from, including a price cap on gas used to generate electricity and a broader temporary price cap while Brussels works on a new benchmark for gas prices to replace the Dutch Title Transfer Facility which has become extremely volatile amid the big reduction in Russian gas supplies.
Predicted clashes were already obvious as leaders arrived for their meeting at Prague Castle, with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer calling on the EU Commission to “get its act together” over Germany’s solo €200billion package to solve the energy crisis.
Germany has raised eyebrows by announcing the massive support package for its businesses and households, dwarfing aid announced by other major EU economies – €67 billion in the case of France, and €68 billion in Italy.
READ MORE: Biden warns world risk of nuclear ‘Armageddon ‘Putin is not joking’
EU leaders will discuss the energy crisis in Prague (Image: GETTY)
Karl Nehammer said the EU Commission must ‘get its act together’ (Image: EUROPEAN COUNCIL)
Mr Nehammer told reporters: “It is a wake-up call to the European Commission. If the Commission doesn’t get its act together, then the nation states will start helping themselves, and that’s what we’re seeing right now.”
But Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo defended Germany’s move arguing member states can only act independently in the absence of a common EU measure.
He said: “Big (national) support packages are needed today because there is not a common European solution. We could not just leave people coping with the cold weather.
“But the real solution is that we act together in the market and then those big (national) support packages won’t be necessary anymore.”
Leaders are also expected to discuss military and economic aid provided to Ukraine to respond to Russia’s attacks.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pushed the 27-nation bloc to earmark more money to pay for the military support of Ukraine.
“I will ask the leaders to support the proposal for a new tranche for European Peace Facility to continue providing military support to Ukraine, also to the training mission,” Mr Borrell told reporters as he arrived in Prague.
DON’T MISS:
Putin to lose 15,000 troops as army forced to surrender, expert says [INSIGHT]
Ukrainian forces equipped with deadly Himars rockets [VIDEO]
UK demanded no EU flags at European Community meeting in Prague [ANALYSIS]
EU summit: Josep Borrell called on nations to spend more on Ukraine military support (Image: EUROPEAN COUNCIL)
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel cautioned about the consequences of Europe imposing price caps as he arrived at the EU summit.
“Implementing a price cap is not the only thing,” he said.
“Because after, maybe we can’t get energy. So then, maybe we have a price cap but no energy.”
“We have to be very careful about decisions that we take, that sound good on paper, but where consequences can be problematic,” he added.
The West must build strong deterrence in its support of Ukraine to make sure that Russia does not want to risk expanding the war, Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda said.
“We have to build very credible deterrents that Kremlin’s regime does not want to test our ability to respond,” he told reports.
“We have to be strong and not let us (be) manipulated because the Kremlin regime is very good at that,” Nauseda added.
US President Joe Biden earlier said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons is the biggest such threat since the Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russia’s military leadership faced a rare domestic public backlash over the war in Ukraine.
Xavier Bettell says a price cap on gas cannot be ‘not the only thing’ (Image: EUROPEAN COUNCIL)
Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said on Friday he wished for a price cap to be decided at a European level, an issue that has divided European countries over the past weeks.
“A price cap on gas, if that could be achieved, would be grand. With the caveat that we cannot endanger the security of supplies, we cannot set the price so that no one would sell gas into Europe,” he told reporters on his arrival in Prague.
“But if on a European level, it could be arranged so that to keep the gas flowing and keep the prices lower, this is the goal,” Mr Karins added Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested earlier she was optimistic on the possibility to reach an agreement in the coming weeks, reminding no decisions would be taken this Friday.
“Member states are willing now to discuss the price caps (…) the where and the how will be discussed so I’m confident we will come to a good conclusion,” she said on her arrival at the summit.
“There will be no decisions today (…) this is a first step,” she added.
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg
[ad_2]
