European Commission says Russia’s energy blackmail fails

Thanks to the efforts of citizens and businesses in the EU member states, the energy blackmail by Russia has failed.

That’s according to a tweet by the European Commission press service, seen by Ukrinform.

"Thanks to the efforts of EU citizens and businesses, we have cut our gas use by 19%. And our gas storage is still filled at 62%," the EC said.

The European Commission added that, thanks to European unity and a smart energy policy, the EU is “strengthening its energy independence.”

Read also: Ukraine’s energy system operating with no capacity deficit for 20 days – Ukrenergo

As reported, last year Russia put to a halt all of its gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which caused another spike in prices on the EU energy market.

The European Union has developed a strategy to tackle the current energy crisis, the key elements of which include better energy efficiency, energy diversification to rid of the dependency on Russia, and accelerated development of renewables in order to gradually abandon fossil fuels.