“Stop dirty business”Left-wing leaders called for a halt to gas imports from Russia
Saxony’s Prime Minister, Kretschmer, wants to resume energy deliveries from Russia after a possible ceasefire. Jan van Aken calls this a “misleading discussion”. Because gas is still flowing to Germany.
Left-wing leader Jan van Aken has called on the federal government to immediately stop imports of Russian liquefied gas. In relation to energy company Sefe, he told the Funke media group newspaper: “Last year alone, the federal government’s Sefe bought more than five billion cubic meters of liquefied gas from Russia, thereby pouring hundreds of millions of euros into Putin’s (Kremlin leader Vladimir) war chest. The federal government must now get out of its gag agreement with Russia and Sefe must immediately stop its dirty business!”
The company, previously known as Gazprom Germania, is a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom and was nationalized as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the energy crisis in Germany. They continue to import liquefied natural gas from Russia to the EU under existing long-term contracts. “As long as Putin does not stop his drone and bomb terror against civilians, not a penny will be allowed into Russia!” van Aken demanded.
He was reacting to Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, who has repeatedly called for energy to be sourced again from Russia following a possible end to fighting in Ukraine. “Our interest is to resume energy deliveries from Russia after the ceasefire,” the CDU politician told the Funke media group. “Russia must become a trading partner again in the future – without us becoming a new dependency.” Economic ties also enhance Germany’s security.
Kretschmer has repeatedly received criticism from his own ranks for his positions. Von Aken called this a “false discussion” regarding ongoing deliveries.
As part of a new sanctions package against Moscow, EU countries have decided not to import liquefied natural gas from Russia from 2027, a year earlier than originally planned. Energy purchases from Russia were drastically curtailed after its attack on Ukraine. However, this is not to be stopped completely as switching to another supplier takes time and too large an impact on consumer prices must be avoided.
