The bloc’s growing dependency on American LNG has sparked concerns amid fraying ties over Greenland
© Getty Images / Bill Chizek
[RT] The
EU is seeking new gas suppliers as growing reliance on US-sourced
liquefied natural gas (LNG) and deteriorating relations with Washington
have raised concerns over energy security.
The bloc has faced a
surge in energy prices since reducing Russian oil and gas imports
following the 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict. The shift away
from comparatively inexpensive Russian pipeline gas has increased
reliance on US energy, while legislation passed this week requires
member states to halt all Russian deliveries by late 2027, leaving the
EU exposed to supply risks.
Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told reporters on Wednesday that “geopolitical turmoil” regarding Greenland has been a “wake-up call” for the region, which now relies on the US for more than half of its LNG supplies.
“There is a growing concern, which I share, that we risk replacing one dependency with another,” Jorgensen, Denmark’s representative in the European Commission, said. “We need to diversify it as much as possible,” he added, noting that he will travel to Canada, Qatar, and North African countries in the coming months to discuss supplies.
The
autonomous Danish territory of Greenland has been at the center of a
transatlantic rift since US President Donald Trump announced plans to
annex it, citing its mineral wealth and strategic location, while
initially refusing to rule out the use of force and threatening tariffs
on opponents of the plan.
Trump has increasingly used energy as leverage in trade talks with
the EU. Under a deal announced last July, the bloc agreed to buy $750
billion worth of US energy by 2028 to avert higher tariffs, a pledge
critics call coercive.
Before the escalation of the Ukraine
conflict in 2022, the EU imported 45% of its gas from Russia – the
bloc’s largest foreign supplier since the end of the Cold War. Western
sanctions and sabotage of key infrastructure have slashed Russian gas
deliveries; however, purchases of Russian LNG by the bloc remain
significant.
Reacting to the EU’s recent decision to ban all
Russian gas imports, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said
this could turn member states into Washington’s “miserable slaves.”