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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz backed this up on Thursday Construction of a gas pipeline that could connect Portugal with Central EuropePasses through countries like Spain and France.
These statements were made during a press conference in Germany on Thursday Reuters Company.
From the point of view of the German government, the construction of this link will help alleviate the pressure in the energy sector – particularly felt in Central Europe and Germany in particular.
This kind of gas pipeline would be a huge relief to the current situation,” said the president of the euro zone’s largest economy.
On the same occasion, Olaf Scholz noted that he had already addressed the issue with the Portuguese and Spanish rulers, as well as with France. Reuters says Scholz will also share the idea with the European Commission.
European countries’ dependence on Russian energy, particularly natural gas, has been used as a weapon by Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine. With the assumption that Russia is reducing natural gas supplies — it cut its supply to Germany by 20% in July, for example — the European Commission has adopted a plan for member states to save gas on a voluntary basis.
In July, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) It warned of the consequences of a total cut-off of Russian gas supplies to Europe. According to a July report, a complete shutdown of Russian gas supplies to Europe would have a devastating effect on Central and Eastern European countries, which could experience 6% contractions in their gross domestic product (GDP).
The end of Russian gas supplies could lead to a 6% drop in GDP in European countries
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