BERLIN — Germany, which relies heavily
on
Russian gas, has major concerns over securing supplies for next winter and
is doing all it can to secure alternatives, Minister for Economic Affairs
Robert Habeck said Saturday.
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"If we do not obtain more gas next
winter and if deliveries from Russia were to be cut, then we would not have
enough gas to heat all our houses and keep all our industry going," warned
Habeck.
Supplies are "not yet completely
guaranteed,"
Green Party member Habeck told Deutschlandfunk radio.
He added that the government of Europe's
biggest economy was preparing for the possibility of shortages "which we
hope can be avoided."
Habeck was later Saturday headed for Qatar,
one of the world's three biggest exporters of
liquefied natural gas (LNG),
which European states are increasingly counting on as a means of weaning
themselves off Russian gas in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Half of Germany's LNG imports come from
Russia.
Habeck, also minister for climate affairs,
has already recently visited another gas powerhouse Norway and the current top
global exporter, the US.
This weekend he is also due to make a stop
in the UAE.
Berlin has come in for criticism over its
opposition to an immediate embargo being imposed on Russian energy supplies as
a means of choking off a major source of
Moscow's foreign earnings.
But Germany believes a boycott could cripple
the German economy and saddle society with huge rises in energy prices as well
as lead to shortages.
While Russia has come under fire for its war
in Ukraine, Habeck conceded in a Friday interview with ARD television that,
where energy policy is concerned, a moral dimension "does not really
exist."
Qatar, which is to host the World Cup later
this year, and the
UAE have both faced international criticism over human
rights.
Habeck also said Friday it was imperative to
ensure a steady supply stream of supplies but stressed the country must speed
up its transition from conventional natural gas to green hydrogen.
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