The President took part in a live debate “Energy Security and the European Green Deal” together with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, as well as Ana Borg, CEO of Swedish company Vatenfall, and Ester Baiget, CEO of Danish company Novozymes.
“European dependence on Russia’s oil and gas is both an issue of security – and a moral issue. We can no longer finance Russia’s war crimes or allow it to control Europe through fossil fuels. Lithuania has learnt this lesson and we are now ready to help other EU countries and EU partners like Ukraine,” the President said as he outlined Lithuania’s experience in phasing out Russian gas and oil.
Gitanas Nausėda stressed that diversification of energy suppliers and the search for new routes for gas and oil is only a part of the solution to Europe’s energy problems.
“Europe must decarbonize its economy. We must shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy – it’s good for business, it’s good for people and it’s good for the environment,” the President spoke.
President Gitanas Nausėda also introduced Lithuania’s plans to increase the production of renewable electricity sevenfold by 2030 and to become a climate-neutral country by 2050.
“Today, Lithuania imports 70% of its electricity, however, with the development of wind and solar power plants, by the end of this decade we will become a fully self-sufficient producer of green energy,” the President underlined.
President Gitanas Nausėda called upon wind energy companies to invest into two new offshore wind farms to be built in Lithuania.
