Doppelbauer: “The exit from Russian gas and thus an end to the financing of Putin’s war can be initiated as early as the next meeting of the National Council.”
Vienna (OTS) – NEOS await today’s press statement from Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler on the development of dependence on Russian natural gas with interest. “Hopefully the Energy Minister will now finally take measures so that we can quickly and finally free ourselves from Putin’s stranglehold,” said NEOS energy spokeswoman Karin Doppelbauer. “To pretend, as has happened so often in the last two years, that Austria’s dependence on Russian gas has already fallen significantly is nothing more than window-dressing. What Gewessler fails to mention is that the percentage of imported gas from Russia is actually at a record high. Austria, along with Hungary and Slovakia, is one of the EU countries that still relies most heavily on Russian pipeline gas. However, the transit contracts through Ukraine will end at the end of the year, meaning there are only a few months left to secure Austria’s gas supply for the next few years.”
Doppelbauer once again refers to NEOS applications submitted last year and calls on the federal government to act: “Instead of continuing to hesitate and appease, those responsible must finally ensure that the Gazprom contracts are legally examined and every option is considered “We are drawn to exit early.” The exit from Russian gas and thus an end to the financing of Putin’s war could be initiated as early as the next meeting of the National Council. “There is no reason to waste any more time here. If the government is willing, a corresponding decision can be made and count on our support,” Doppelbauer urges for quick, concrete steps in the National Council.
Helmut Brandstätter, NEOS foreign policy spokesman and top candidate for the upcoming EU elections, also urges the federal government to act quickly instead of further press releases: “The federal government has made us dependent on Putin and, together with him, has given us significantly higher gas prices. We also finance the rockets that Putin uses to kill people in Ukraine. We urgently need to get out of Russian gas, for our benefit and for the people of Ukraine.”
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