Reduction of gas has been used as weapon against Ukraine: Polish president
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
19.02.2018 07:30
Polish President Andrzej Duda has criticised Nord Stream 2, a planned gas pipeline between Russia and Germany which is to bypass Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States.
Andrzej Duda and Dalia Grybauskaite during their meeting in Vilnius, 17 February. Photo: EPA/Robertas Dackus
Duda made his comments during an official visit to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will run under the Baltic Sea, and is expected to be completed by 2019.
Duda said: “I’d just like to express my surprise that the EU – in particular the Western members I believe – want to become dependent on Gazprom,” the Russian gas monopoly.
“We [Poland] have our experiences [with Russia], we have also been observing the experiences of Ukraine, against which the reduction of gas supplies has been used as a weapon in the hybrid war being conducted against that country.”
Duda stressed that Poland has been taking measures to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, including the opening of an LNG terminal in Świnoujście, northwest Poland, which has been receiving gas from Qatar.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who appeared at a joint press conference with her Polish counterpart, said that Lithuania and Poland have the same stance in regards to Nord Stream 2.
She said: “This project would mean that even the main European powers would become dependent on gas supplies from a single supplier, and this is unacceptable.”
(sl/pk)
Source: PAP