Baerbock: Keine neuen Abhängigkeiten von Autokratien bei Energie

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned against becoming dependent on autocratic systems when looking for energy suppliers for Germany. Reliable partners will be needed in the future, said the Greens politician on Tuesday at the Federal Foreign Office at the business day of the heads of German missions abroad under the motto "Business for climate protection and sustainability". "The principle of hope, things won't get that bad with these autocratic governments, we can't afford that a second time," she added. The minister did not say which countries Baerbock meant.

Germany agreed an energy partnership with Qatar as Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Berlin.[_link]

— DW News (@dwnews) May 20, 2022

Qatar did not make a good offer for liquid gas, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said last week. Now the FDP is asking Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take action himself.

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"This principle of hope - it will work out somehow - we paid dearly for that. We're paying dearly for that now. And other people are paying for it with their lives," said Baerbock, referring to Germany's dependence on Russian gas. "In reality, we never got cheap gas from Russia. The price may have been cheap at certain moments. But what led to a cheap price was just blind dependencies or swapping of infrastructure, which was actually a security risk." Russian gas was "paid for twice or three times with our national security".

Baerbock said that if Germany now enters into energy partnerships in the liquid gas sector, it is clear: "It will be switched to climate-neutral gas in the future. To green hydrogen. That is the only way we can go with our new energy partnerships."

With a view to the economy's dependency on raw materials from China, Baerbock appealed to company representatives not to turn a blind eye to what was happening in the country. That applies to the planned China strategy of the federal government. "And I hope that also applies to your other economic activities," she demanded. Even the economy cannot afford to act according to the "business first credo" again, "without taking into account the long-term risks and dependencies".

NUTS

What a f*cking dreamer ... wrecking people's lives ... the surge in energy price is not sustainable ... setting her goal of 2030 or 2035 is outright an attack on Germany. Europe has been divided by cultures and there is and will be no cohesion. The European project has come to an end with a Big Bang. The planet is dying and we have an arrogant minister of foreign affairs sitting on the coattails of Joe and Jens. Ukraine is destroyed and what did anyone gain?

A major shift of global wealth to authoritarian states Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Russia and to an unstable United States delivering dirty LNG from fracking.

'Sapere aude'