The European Union must maintain sanctions against Russia and must diversify its energy supplies because Moscow uses energy for blackmail, said Austian Chancellor Christian Store in Euronews in an exclusive interview.
In a discussion on the sidelines of the EPP Congress in Valencia, storing, which directs a three -dimensional coalition, said that the EU needed to differentiate Russia and Putin and prepare for the future with President Vladimir Putin who is no longer in power.
“Russia is not only Putin,” said store. “Treating with Putin is extremely difficult, but Russia will always be there when it is no longer in power. For the moment, we consider Russia as a threat – Austria included – because of its destabilizing actions and its disinformation campaigns targeting Western democracies. At the moment, Russia is not a partner. But it will not always be the case.”
Storing added that it is too early to talk about relaxing economic sanctions against Russia, because a possible ceasefire in Ukraine is currently out of sight. He thinks that any peace agreement must respect the conditions of Ukraine.
“This is not something I see right now, although I welcome it,” he said about a truce. “But any ceasefire or peace agreement should not be imposed. Ukraine must define the terms under which peace can be obtained. From what I can see, Putin is not interested in this at the moment. If a peace agreement will come, the EU will then decide on its position. Until it happens, the sanctions must remain in place.”
The Chancellor also stressed the need to further reduce EU’s energy dependence on Russia. The European Commission is considering plans to completely divorce Europe against Russian energy imports.
“We have learned that it is not wise to be so dependent on a single supplier, especially when energy becomes a blackmail tool,” he said. “This is why we diversify our sources of energy and become independent of Russian gas. The key problem is dependence, and it is clear now that this dependence was neither a good policy nor a lasting solution. We finish it.”
Neutral but rearmed
Storing also said that he was supporting new plans to rearrange Europe, because the safety guarantees of the post-cold era are on the way.
“For a long time, we were under the illusion that war belonged to the past in Europe,” he told Euronews. “I was born in 1960, after the war. The ruins were rebuilt, and I grew up believing that war would never return to Europe. We have designed our defense systems around this belief. But now we see that it was a false idea. We must therefore rethink our defense – better and with more responsibilities.
Austria is participating in the joint Defense Defense Purchasing Program.
“We are militarily neutral, but that does not mean that we will not invest in our defense,” said store. “On the contrary, we double our defense expenses to 2% of GDP. We have already considerably increased the budget in recent years. We therefore invest in our defense within the framework of our neutrality.”
But unlike Sweden or Finland, Austria does not plan to join NATO.
“NATO membership is not to be discussed in Austria, both because of our neutrality and because we aim to manage our defense expenses effectively,” said store.
“For example, the Sky Shield supply platform is not an EU initiative; it is a European initiative, including Switzerland. It allows us to buy systems profitable and guarantees that they are compatible, while keeping the decisions of command and deployment entirely in the Austrian hands.”
Migrants without rights should leave
Speaking of migration, Chancellor Storing said that the EU migration pact was a big step in the right direction, but he added that Brussels should act now.
ADVERTISEMENT“We do not adopt a Trump style approach” Build The Wall “, but we need a strong and secure external border, which is properly monitored, where asylum procedures occur just on the border. It is a key element. The second is to have safe third countries where people can be returned.”
The chancellor added that 100% of these migrants without the right to stay in Europe should leave.
“We want people who do not have the legal right to stay in Austria or Europe leave. If only 20% of people without a residence permit come back really, as we have heard, it is simply not enough. This should be 100%. Even if we cannot achieve this completely, it must remain our goal.”
