Poland warned on Wednesday that it “will not give in to blackmail” from Russia after what Vladimir Putin’s regime announced the interruption of the gas supply “arbitrarily”.
“A few hours ago, by order of Putin, Russian gas has stopped flowing to Poland”declared the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawieckiat a press conference from the facilities of the gas operator Gaz System in Rembelszczyzna, near Warsaw, in reference to the Russian president.
He added that this fact constitutes “a test for energy sovereignty” of Poland.
Morawiecki affirmed that “as of today the dependence on Russia has ended” and stressed that the gas stores are currently at 78% of their capacity and that they will be filled to 100%.
The prime minister assured that “thanks to the precaution” of his government’s energy policy, Poland “will not succumb to Russian blackmail today”.
“In 2010, an agreement was signed with Gazprom and today we know that it was not worth the paper it was signed on”Morawiecki said, adding that “it would have been naive to believe that Russia would never use gas blackmail.”
He added that for this reason the Government decided in 2015 to increase national production and look for new suppliers.
The Polish state energy company PGNiG confirmed this Wednesday morning the suspension of gas exports to Poland by the Russian state company Gazpromafter Warsaw’s refusal to use a conversion mechanism from euros to rubles in the payment of energy.
At the end of March, the Russian president gave foreign contractors “hostile to the Russian Federation” until last Friday to start paying their gas imports in rubles and not in euros.
Other European countries are making payments in euros to an account in Gazprom’s bank, which then converts them to rubles through a transfer to another account in the same entity, according to the German Economy Minister on Wednesday. Robert Habek.
On the other hand, during an appearance before Parliament in Warsaw, Morawiecki today described the Russian decision as a “direct attack on Poland” and stated that it is “revenge for the sanctions” recently imposed by Warsaw on Russian companies and oligarchs.
Cutting off gas supplies is “a threat to Europe‘s energy and food security,” Morawiecki said, “and an extension of Russian imperialism.”
The gas firm PGNiG said Poland was prepared to obtain the necessary supplies from other sources. The government, for its part, has also signaled that it is ready to face any supply disruption from Russia.
“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes (…) From the first day of the war, we have declared that we are ready for full independence from Russian raw materials.”the Climate Minister said on Twitter, Anna Moscowon Tuesday.
“Poland has the necessary gas reserves and supply sources to protect our security. For years we have successfully achieved independence from Russia,” she added.
After Russia cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria, The European Union (EU) announced that it is preparing a “coordinated response” if Putin extends the measure to the rest of Europe.
“Gazprom’s announcement is a new attempt by Russia to blackmail us with gas. We are prepared for that scenario. We are developing our coordinated European response. Europeans can rest assured that we are united and in solidarity with the affected Member States”, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der LeyenOn twitter.
The President of the Russian State Duma or Chamber of Deputies, Viacheslav Volodin, today welcomed the cut off of Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland and He asked to extend the measure to “other unfriendly countries.”
“Gazprom totally suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. It is a correct decision. The deputies of the State Duma support it”, Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.
He added that Bulgaria and Poland had the opportunity to “accept the proposal” of Russian President Vladimir Putin to pay for natural gas supplies in rubles.
“The leaders of those countries did not want it. So now they explain to their citizens how they are going to get out of this situation and what interests they took into account when making that decision,” Volodin stressed.
The President of the Duma added that “it is necessary to act in the same way in relation to other unfriendly countries”, with Russia.
(With information from EFE)
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Russia cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria: the EU said it is preparing a “coordinated response” if Putin extends the measure to the rest of Europe
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Source-www.infobae.com