Europe’s energy policy fuels Russia’s war chest

The European Member States have been financing the Russian army’s war chest for years with their citizens’ tax money due to the European dependence on Russian oil and gas. Paradoxically enough, Minister Van der Straeten’s policy also reinforces that policy into the future, while at the same time, her Groen party opposed the supply of military equipment to Ukraine. That is the opinion of the N-VA group leader in the Chamber Peter De Roover and MP Bert Wollants.

Europe’s dependence on Russian oil is 30% and on Russian gas, 38%. This dependence will increase dramatically due to the European climate plans and the recognition of gas as “renewable energy” by the European Commission, as well as due to the German nuclear phase-out. That money from oil and gas helped finance the tanks and artillery that have now rolled into Ukraine. Germany will have to choose between postponing the coal exit or pouring even more money into the Russian war chest.

Financing wars

The Vivaldi government threatens to present Belgium with a similar choice in the future by sticking to the nuclear phase-out. Currently, about one-third of our gas comes from Norway, but Norwegian gas production will start to decline between 2025 and 2030; almost 30% comes from the Netherlands, which will turn off its supply in 2024; and 20% comes from Qatar, which is fighting out its rivalry with Saudi Arabia on the side of Iran in several proxy wars that we are thus helping to finance.

Reprehensible regimes

The conflict in Ukraine underscores once again that the revenues from oil and gas purchases help to finance reprehensible regimes and wars worldwide. Thanks to nuclear energy, Europe can still somewhat limit the flow of European taxpayers’ money to dubious regimes.

Quo vadis, Vivaldi?

So, quo vadis, Vivaldi, and in particular, quo vadis, Ecolo/Groen parties, always very active in producing resolutions to denounce abuses worldwide: do we want to limit Belgium’s contribution to dubious regimes and wars thanks to our nuclear power plants? Or do we opt for a complete nuclear phase-out, more dependence on gas imports and more Belgian tax money going towards Putin’s war chest?