UN General Assembly
2022

Across Europe, we face the prospect of a difficult winter. The impact of the war in Ukraine has sent the price of gas soaring and has unleashed a spike in inflation, the likes of which we have not seen in more than four decades. Russia has weaponized its natural resources to inflict pain on European societies and destabilize democratically elected European Governments. Again, it will not succeed. We will support our citizens in coping with high energy prices. We will pool European resources to promote energy efficiency and rapidly diversify away from Russian oil and natural gas. And we will further accelerate the push towards renewables, which are not just the cleanest and cheapest form energy, but are also the safest ones from a geopolitical perspective. Never again must we mortgage our prosperity, only to be blackmailed by those who are willing to exploit our dependencies. That is, after all, what European strategic autonomy is all about.