EU avoids talk of energy sanctions

The crisis in Ukraine has already spurred the EU towards mini-revolutions considering its usual slowness to take action

Brussels got rid of age-old taboos such as sending weapons to a country of war and applauding the rearming of post-World War Two Germany, Qazet.az reports.

Now the taboo of taboos, known as energy security, looks like it may be smashed too. Russian violence against Ukraine is heaping pressure on the EU to impose energy sanctions. The bloc depends on Russia for 40% of its natural gas and a quarter of its oil imports.

What’s the point of all the EU’s financial sanctions, if Vladimir Putin’s war chest is filled on a daily basis with oil and gas revenues, you might ask?

So here we are: the US and .

Eastern EU countries, like the Baltics, strongly agree. They feel particularly exposed by the Russian threat.

But other EU members, like big hitters Germany and Italy, feel more threatened by spiralling energy prices.

Emmanuel Macron of France is about to stand for re-election as president. He too is wary of making what could be unpopular moves amongst drivers and people needing to heat their homes.

So the EU has avoided talk of energy sanctions. Instead, it’s repeated plans to move as fast as possible from energy reliance on Russia: finding alternative suppliers and working on renewable energies.