Prime Minister of Greece reproached Russia for high gas prices

MOSCOW, August 30 – PRIME. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis again reproached Russia for high natural gas prices and unprecedented inflation, and also predicted an extremely difficult winter for Europe and proposed setting a ceiling on the cost of energy resources.

In the past, Moscow has repeatedly rejected any claims that it uses gas or oil for political pressure. Russian leader’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia was and remains ready to fulfill all its obligations, and the problems are created by the EU countries, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, which impose sanctions and impede gas supplies.

Speaking about the European economic crisis, Mitsotakis stressed that now is the time to implement what he proposed to his colleagues exactly seven months ago: set a ceiling on natural gas prices, untie natural gas prices from electricity prices.

“In other words, we need a pan-European response to the crisis,” he said.

Meanwhile, the price of electricity in Greece began to rise from the summer of 2021, long before the crisis in relations with Russia. So, on October 19, 2021, the Naftemporiki business publication published an article titled “Leading” on the high cost of energy. The average wholesale price is 253 EUR/MWh, the maximum price is 344 EUR/MWh”.

The Greek prime minister also claims that Russia is allegedly trying to use economic methods to destabilize the situation in foreign countries.

Russia has repeatedly refuted accusations by Western countries of interfering in internal affairs in the past. The Kremlin called them absolutely unfounded,” and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that there were no facts to confirm this.

According to him, with regard to Greece, “aggression of neighbors” and immigration should be added to the common challenges.

Mitsotakis said he was the first to warn of the crisis now facing Europe and will insist that every day that goes by without a single response to the energy crisis will exacerbate problems for all Europeans.

At the national level, the Greek government will continue to support households and businesses, he said, but the resources are not inexhaustible.

He said that at the International Exhibition in Thessaloniki he will present a plan for the upcoming decisive winter, as well as for the second term of his party and for Greece until 2030.