Europe must break free from dependency on Russian fossil fuels: PM

Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Tuesday said that Europe must break free from its dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible.

“Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has affected us all in many ways. Russia is using energy supplies as a tool to put pressure on our societies. Europe must break free from its dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible,” said the Premier at the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit held at the official residence of the Danish Prime Minister in Marienborg.

She also said that Finland has already cut its ties to Russian coal, oil and pipeline gas.

The energy summit, organised by Denmark, was attended by the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Sweden, the Baltic states and Poland, representatives of the Federal Chancellor of Germany and the Prime Minister of Sweden, the President of the European Commission and the energy ministers of several countries in the region.

“Our meeting today is important as we are facing the current challenges together in Europe, and together we have the ability to bring about change. The energy crisis shows that Europe also needs strategic autonomy when it comes to energy supply,” said Marin, adding, ”we can’t rely on authoritarian states as partners in supplying goods and energy that are crucial for the security of our nations, our citizens.”

The coastal nations around the Baltic Sea will dramatically boost their use of offshore wind power and take other measures to promote the production of renewable energy, said a government press release referring to the summit.

They will also develop the energy distribution network between their countries to secure energy supply.

The countries agreed to intensify their cooperation.

At the summit, the leaders of the Baltic Sea countries condemned Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and its use of energy as a weapon against all of Europe.

They emphasised the importance of improving Europe’s energy self-sufficiency and breaking away from Russian energy as soon as possible.

The participating countries committed to working closely together to achieve these objectives, including at the political level. The matter will be discussed in the EU’s meetings this autumn.

The declaration signed at the summit set several ambitious targets. One of these is to increase offshore wind power production in the Baltic Sea region to seven times the current amount by 2030.

Finland is one of the world’s leading users of renewable sources of energy, especially bioenergy.

Renewable energy sources account for more than 40 per cent of all energy end-consumption in Finland.

In line with the National Energy and Climate Strategy for 2030, Finland aims to increase its use of renewable energy so that energy from renewable sources makes up more than 50 per cent of end-consumption during the 2020s.