MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The European Union and the United States use energy as a weapon, while gas supplies from Russia have proven reliable, Bundestag (German parliament) member, foreign policy expert of the Alternative for Germany (AdG) faction Steffen Kotre told the German newspaper Deutschland Kurier.
"Yes, diversification in the energy sector is important. But beyond that, it is also important to ensure affordability and reliability. This is what the Russian gas supply provided us with - for decades, even during the Cold War. Except that we are now being encouraged to believe that it was unreliable. This is absurd," he said. "It is the EU and the US that are using energy as a weapon, giving up Russian gas. We would have both affordability and security with it. This is what sovereignty is all about," the lawmaker added.
He also pointed out that it would be sound to consider reserves, i.e. to develop the production of domestic gas. "Yet no one is even discussing this. So, it's not about security or diversification at all, but about ideological confrontation with Russia and a new dependence on the United States," Kotre added.
In addition, the politician noted that the EU in its current form "should disappear" and countries should resume prioritizing national interests. "It is necessary to work with everyone, but instead they engage in moralizing, ideology and trampling on national interests. This must be stopped," he explained. "Germany must become sovereign again; only then will we have reliable energy and good economic relations globally. We must either radically reform the EU or give priority back to nation states," the lawmaker clarified.
"We favor a return to an economic and engaging union that gives countries more freedom to pursue their own policies," Kotre emphasized. "It is true that the US acts aggressively at times, with duties and other pressure measures, but if we had a strong economy, we would be able to withstand it," the Bundestag member concluded.