MADRID Dec. 31 () –
The European Commission has defended that the European Union (EU) is prepared for the end of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, scheduled for this Wednesday, given kyiv’s refusal to extend the current contract with the aim of limiting financing. from Moscow.
“The impact of the end of transit through Ukraine on the security of supply to the EU is limited,” said a Commission spokeswoman, while highlighting the possibilities of European gas infrastructure to supply gas of non-Russian origin to Europe. central and eastern through alternative routes.
According to the spokesperson cited by the DPA news agency, the Commission has been preparing for more than a year in coordination with the Twenty-Seven for the current scenario and guaranteeing alternative supplies to the affected Member States.
These statements come just over 24 hours before the contract expires and Ukraine interrupts the transit of Russian gas, a decision announced months ago by its president, Volodimir Zelensky, and which has unleashed strong criticism from the Government of Slovakia, one of the countries that will be harmed by the lack of Russian gas.
The Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, sent a letter to the European Commission this Sunday, warning of an “increase in tensions and mutual measures” in the face of the “tacit acceptance” of what he described as “Zelensky’s unilateral decision.”
The letter comes two days after Fico threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine in retaliation, an action that kyiv has attributed to Moscow.
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