European leaders meet in Brussels to discuss energy crisis and Ukraine war

Europe, News October 22, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Leaders of 27 European Union states gathered in Brussels on October 20, 2022, for a two-day summit focusing on finding solutions for the European energy crisis and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In light of the recent sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, European leaders are anxiously looking for a reasonable solution to counter the intensifying energy crisis in the whole continent.

The head of the European Council Charles Michel convened the summit where leaders from all European Union states and the President of the European Commission debated a new package for emergency measures related to the energy crisis and gas prices. This is the second package of its kind within a span of two months.

While talking about the nature of the summit ahead of the meeting, Charles Michel told journalists that the current package is a compact solution for the ongoing energy crisis and possesses all the means and instruments that are needed to act on lowering energy prices, decreasing demand, and securing deliveries.

Michel stressed that however, reaching a compromise on the package could be difficult given the differences affecting the member states, it would be particularly important to demonstrate that EU members can work together for a positive influence on households, families, and companies.

The EU Council president Charles Michel highlighted in a statement, “There is a strong and unanimously shared determination to act together, as Europeans, to achieve three goals: lowering prices, ensuring security of supply and continuing to work to reduce demand.”

The head of the European Council said that another priority of the meeting is to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. He stated that Kremlin has decided to take the path of escalation, by initiating mobilization campaigns, organizing referendums to justify its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s territory, and applying dangerous rhetoric. He recalled that Russian forces are carrying out mass shelling of civilian targets in Ukraine, which is absolutely unacceptable under any circumstances.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen spoke during the summit as she presented the proposal for a new package to counter the energy crisis. “The time has come,” she said “It is important to move with a clear signal that we are willing to be reliable partners on the market but not at any price any more.”

*^{A crew member walking by a gas pipes network on an LNG tanker upper deck. (Image Credit: Sylvain Thomas/EC)}*

So far, the European leaders have failed to impose a gas price cap and could not reach a consensus, however, if the new package ger approved it would put a dynamic price cap on the gas prices in European Union states. The EU-wide price cap would bring high gas prices under control, however, it could also trigger extreme volatility and speculation in the market. The price cap was demanded by 15 EU member states including France, Italy, and Spain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the leaders through a video link to discuss the ongoing situation and Russia’s recent spree of aerial attacks in Ukraine.

The focus of the meeting also shifted towards Iran, as the country is being accused of providing Russia with drones and military training that is being used to attack many of the major Ukrainian cities. Ukraine has been urging its western partners to cut ties with Iran over its association with the ongoing war.