The EU gas cap plan is actually another sanctions package, wrote the Director General of the Center for Fundamental Rights on his Facebook page on Wednesday. According to Miklós Szánthó, director of the Center for Fundamental Rights, Moscow's threat that it will not deliver gas to countries that introduce this quasi-sanction mechanism should be taken seriously.
Miklós Szánthó stated that, according to leaked press information, the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen would further intensify the sanctions war against Russia.
"At the same time, the sanctions introduced so far have not brought the desired result, and have even caused an energy crisis in Europe, which threatens the security of supply, increases inflation and threatens with an economic crisis," the director general pointed out.
He added that, despite everything, the "federalist body" is seriously considering the introduction of a price cap on Russian gas imports, which would essentially mean that the EU would only be willing to buy Russian gas at a predetermined, maximum price, and Russia will obviously not accept this.
Miklós Szánthó indicated that many experts warn that the move would probably not have any positive results, and Moscow's threat that it will not supply gas to countries that introduce this quasi-sanction mechanism should be taken seriously.
"However, if Russian gas does not arrive, the price cap itself will become meaningless, in fact it would amount to another sanctions package, precisely in the case of gas, which was previously taken off the agenda due to pressure from Hungary, among others," he wrote.
He continued by saying that the President of the European Commission openly advocated the maximization of the price of Russian gas. He referred to Ursula von der Leyen saying at a press conference: "I firmly believe that the time has come to cap the price of Russian pipeline gas to Europe."
Miklós Szánthó stated: based on the documents obtained by EURACTIV, it seems that the Eurocrats are planning to limit the member states' room for maneuver in such a way that they will not be able to back down even after Gazprom stops all exports to Europe in response to the price cap.
To achieve this, they intend to use the energy saving plan adopted in July, in which several restrictions were foreseen that would painfully affect European people and companies, he added.
In addition, he noted, a qualified majority would be sufficient to make a decision on the price cap, as opposed to packages that are officially sanctioned, which require consensus and can be blocked even if only one member state vetoes them.
"From all of this - whatever you call this plan in Brussels - the image of another, ill-considered step seems to be unfolding, as a result of which - when the price cap inevitably hits back - the whip may once again crack on the backs of European, and therefore Hungarian, citizens," said Miklós Szánthó.
Source: Magyar Hírlap
Featured image: Hungarian Nation
