Poland and Hungary Criticize EU Gas Cut Proposal

Similarly to Hungary’s position, Poland’s government does not think that a binding solidarity mechanism would be the solution to the energy crisis which is threatening Europe. According to Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, the recent EU gas cut proposal is a communication action that is impossible to implement in the physical sense.

Poland cannot agree to the European Commission’s proposal last week, Anna Moskwa, Poland’s minister of climate and environment commented at a press conference in Warsaw on Monday.

Under the proposal presented last Wednesday, all Member States would set a target to cut their use of gas by 15 percent between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, in order to prevent an energy crisis. The targets would be voluntary, but in case the Commission were to declare a so-called “EU alert” on security of supply, gas demand cuts would be mandatory for all Member States.

According to Moskwa, the proposal is unacceptable and it was “hastily prepared in a few days.” She noted that among others, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, and Malta are also opposed to the binding restrictions.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the Extraordinary Transport, Telecommmunication, and Energy Council in Brussels on Tuesday, Moskwa reiterated that her country cannot support reductions being forced upon Member States. “When it comes to energy security it is mainly the responsibility of individual, national governments. When we mean solidarity, we also mean freedom. We cannot speak about solidarity and force countries to some solutions at the same time,” she explained.

In a tv interview ahead of the Brussels summit, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called the proposal “merely an act of political communication,” adding that it raises a myriad of technical questions,” as its physical implementation is basically impossible.”

Featured photo via the Council of the EU