Gov’t calls for emergency meeting of EU energy ministers
The government has urged France, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, to call an emergency meeting of EU energy ministers to discuss a collective response to surging energy prices, a trend now further exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a letter dated February 24 and seen by Reuters, Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said the energy crisis had a “destructive impact” on the life of European citizens, on industries and economies. The letter is co-signed by his Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts.
“This is a crisis situation, which requires an EU level response,” he wrote in the letter addressed to French Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompili. “In this light, we would ask the French Presidency to organize an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Energy Ministers as soon as possible.”
The government has so far spent €2 billion to subsidize power bills for households and businesses facing soaring energy prices.
It has lined up additional supplies of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) should existing plans be disrupted by the Ukraine crisis.
Greece imports about 40% of its gas from Russia. Many other European countries are also heavily reliant on Russian natural gas. [Reuters]
