Speaking on energy, Gitanas Nausėda stressed that as energy ministers have so far not succeeded in reaching an agreement on the gas price cap, the European Council should send out a strong signal urging energy ministers to reach a compromise. The President underlined that the EU gas adjustment mechanism should not be declarative, but rather operational and should make a real contribution to containing price hikes for energy resources in the future.
At the European Council, President Gitanas Nausėda stressed that EU support for Ukraine had to be increased until it achieved victory over the aggressor.
“The agreed €18 billion macro-financial assistance package for Ukraine is timely and significant. Our task now is to ensure that Ukraine starts receiving this assistance as early as in January. The Ukrainian people are fighting heroically against evil, and we must help them in every possible way,” the President underlined.
The President stressed to European leaders the need to increase pressure on Russia and tighten sanctions, and emphasized that the protection of food resources should not be used as a pretext to weaken the EU’s sanction regime. According to Gitanas Nausėda, the proposed exceptions must not allow the sanctioned Russian oligarchs to gain access to their frozen funds and continue to amass their wealth, while Ukrainian civilians are being killed by Russian bombs.
The leaders also discussed cooperation with the Southern Neighbourhood countries. The President stressed the need to strengthen cooperation in the fight against Russia’s disinformation and illegal migration, as well as in efforts to secure the supply of energy resources. On the fight against illegal migration, Gitanas Nausėda pointed out that the hybrid attacks by Belarus and Russia last year had exposed weaknesses in EU legislation, and that it was therefore necessary to agree as soon as possible on EU legislation that would effectively combat authoritarian regimes’ attempts to exploit illegal migrants for their own ends.
