Margaritis Schinas: The “dark” energy scenarios for the winter have not been confirmed

On the occasion of the first “black” one-year anniversary of Russian invasion of UkraineMr. Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Promotion of the European Way of Life was invited to the main news bulletin of ERT.

“It’s been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Do you think that this attack by Russia has ultimately weakened or strengthened Europe in the way it has stood up to Russia?” Mr. Schinas was asked by Apostolos Maggiriadis.

“On this sad anniversary today. I see two safe conclusions. The first is that the defender, Ukraine with their proud struggle a year now, have managed to attract the admiration of the entire planet. They are fighting for our own principles and values. They want to live the way we live and they deserve admiration for what they have achieved. And the second conclusion is that in this year, in these twelve months, the unity of Europe and the West was broken, “cemented” I would say. EI have been in the meanderings of European politics for many years. I don’t remember an issue for which there is such a degree of absolute sympathy and unity in support of Ukraine”, said Mr. Schinas.

“Do you think there is a chance that in the near future we will see the European Union welcoming Ukraine into its bosom?” he was asked afterwards.

“Ukraine has already been declared a candidate country for membership by a decision of the Commission since June. So the first important step has been taken and I think that with their proud struggle, the Ukrainians have secured their place in Europe, they have secured the right to be members of the family”, stressed the Vice-President of the Commission and added: “This will be a blessing for Europe. A big country, the granary of Epirus, 40 million skilled people, who are close to us, who think like us, who produce a lot of raw materials and want to live with us. It will be a weapon for Europe. So I see Ukraine as an equal member of the European Union and I think it will be a “win win”, profit for both sides” answered Mr. Schinas.

The journalist and presenter of the news bulletin Apostolos Maggiriadis brought to the “table” of the debate the example of the West Banks, which had taken the first step for their inclusion but the process had stalled. Mr. Schinas replied: “In the Western Balkans, it is true that we had taken this first step of pre-accession status, but it is equally clear that there have been setbacks in the Western Balkans. There were also wrong decisions. There were timing problems that were not resolved.”

“In the field of energy, do you think that Europe has managed to find answers to weaning off natural gas? Do we have sustainable solutions before us?” Mr. Schinas was then asked and his answer was as follows: “Let’s remember what we heard from the well-known doomsayers and prophets of evil about this current winter. We were told that Europe will get dark, that we Europeans will get cold, we will freeze. As you can see, all this did not happen. We have built a European energy efficiency and autonomy with a broad framework of measures. We found alternative energy providers. We have reduced our dependence on Russian sources of fossil energy from 45% to 10%. We negotiated new contracts, lowered the demand and put the ceilings in place. All this brought prices to pre-war levels and I think that if this path of European unity, which we got so successfully this winter, continued, we will have no problem next winter as well. But effort, coordination and unity are required.”

“On the Ukraine front, do you think there is any prospect of a viable solution, or are we actually locked in a stalemate between Russia and Ukraine and the rest of the Western powers?” was the next question.

“The truth is that there is no way out of nowhere towards a peaceful settlement and that is sad”, said the Vice-President of the Commission. “Here in Brussels, no one wants us to celebrate a second anniversary like today’s. But this is not enough. There must be a prospect of resolution, but in any case it cannot justify the arbitrariness of the aggressor. It must justify the success of the defender and under no circumstances should any settlement be made on Ukraine’s back. Once these parameters start to crystallize into a broader agreement – ​​which I see at the UN level, not just Euro-Atlantic – then I think we will see the light at the tunnel. However, we are not yet at this point”, clarified Mr. Schinas.

Does he consider China’s involvement credible? “Today’s developments were a bit cloudy. Certainly there was a message from China at the highest level, a message with content that is not just philological, not even philological, but even as we speak about 10, 12 hours after that message was made by the Chinese leadership, no one does not have a concrete picture of how we will move to the next stage of the operational implementation of this set of ideas. I personally, and others here, would not look down at all on China’s involvement in a settlement – ​​as we call it comprehensive – but it has to be honest. It must be operational and I repeat, it must in no way be at the expense of Ukraine.”

“In the morning you were in Athens. The refugee conference is over. Did you discuss the flow of new refugees from Turkey and Syria after the deadly earthquakes that hit the countries? Do you think there is such a real danger?’ he was asked afterwards.

“We have no evidence to confirm imminent increases in migration flows as a consequence of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. We are monitoring the situation in real time, but it is not yet clear whether those affected will decide to move or try to rebuild their lives where their homes were. I don’t think there is any automation in these flows, but we are cautious and we also have the know-how on how to deal with such situations based on the crises we have experienced in the past,” said the Commission’s Vice-President, among others.