The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, defended the development of a new ‘Energy Union’ to combat the ‘energy missile’ that Russia launched against the ‘heart’ of the European economic and social system.
“Russia is firing missiles at the Ukrainians and has launched an ‘energy missile’ at Europe, targeting the heart of our economic and social system”said Charles Michel, in a video message posted after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
The Belgian politician admitted that “the damage is serious” since “energy is expensive” and “every household in Europe is affected by rising energy bills and supermarket revenues.”
“And that”, added the President of the European Council, will have “a lasting impact on everyone”.
Charles Michel thus defended the development “of a new Energy Union, with a true common strategy”.
“There is no alternative if we want to guarantee security of supply, affordable prices and the climate transition,” he stressed.
“Today, we must all understand that we have entered a new world, in which many of our reference points have been reversed. We must face this situation clearly,” he added. For Charles Michel, in the same way that Russia decided to promote a large-scale mobilization to multiply its war effort tenfold, Europeans must also mobilize, not for war, but to preserve peace and protect security and guarantee the future of Next generations.
“Citizens, businesses, political and social leaders: all of us, we all have a responsibility to assume, a role to play,” urged Michel, who also “unequivocally” rejected the “illegal” annexations of Ukrainian regions by Russia. “Once again, the Kremlin tramples on the UN Charter and the international order,” denounced the president of the European Council.
Michel also stressed that the annexation comes after false referendums and constitutes a dangerous and irresponsible escalation, since it is “conceived as a step towards the intensification of the nuclear threat against the rest of the world.”
Putin signed, in Moscow, the annexation treaties of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, despite international and Ukrainian condemnation. The four regions represent about 15% of Ukraine’s territory, or some 100,000 square kilometers, slightly more than the size of countries like Hungary and Portugal or slightly less than Bulgaria.
Source: Observadora
