Albares sees Spain "better prepared than others" in the EU energetically if Russia cuts the gas supply

BRUSSELS, 18 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, stated this Monday that Spain is better prepared than other European Union countries in terms of energy to deal with the crisis arising from the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, especially at the power supply level.

"We are better prepared energetically than others that are more dependent on Russian gas or that are closer to Russia," Albares indicated at a press conference after the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU.

Albares has highlighted the situation in Spain "especially at the level of supply", so it does not "pose the enormous problems that other EU countries face".

In a further step, the minister indicated that "Spain is in a particularly favorable situation due to its low dependence on Russian gas" and "because we have, together with Portugal, 50% of the EU's liquefied natural gas regasification capacity" .

In any case, the head of Foreign Affairs has clarified that "the Spanish have to be aware that we are facing a global crisis" and "it affects all the countries of Europe", Albares pointed out after being asked about the contingency plan that the European Commission will present on Wednesday, by which it will ask to implement measures to all consumers.

"It is a global crisis, obviously, it affects the whole world and Spain is in the world," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who referred to the increase in inflation in all EU countries as an example.

This Wednesday the European Commission will present an emergency plan to coordinate the way in which the gas supply is managed in the different European countries, following Russia's decision to reduce the flow of gas supply to the community market, as announced by the president of the Community Executive at the end of June.

In parallel, the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, also urged EU countries to reduce their gas consumption, either by replacing it with other fuels and with energy efficiency measures, especially in the industrial sector and in electricity production. and heating.