Warsaw Says Germany, EU Commission Want to Make Poland Sell Its Gas

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Germany with the help of the European Commission wants to make Poland sell gas from its storage to make up for shortages in other member states, Polish Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta said on Thursday.

"Yesterday the European Commission made a proposal, according to which the EU member-states would have to limit their gas consumption to provide countries struggling with fuel supplies with the excess saved gas. Of course, we know what country is in question. This country is Germany. This initiative is de facto Germany's. We see once again that the European Commission is used as an instrument by Berlin to pursue Germany's interests," Kaleta said at a press conference.

The mechanism, proposed by the European Commission implies that countries, which have accumulated gas reserves like Poland, have to limit their consumption in order to mandatorily sell this gas to a different country, Kaleta added.

According to Polish politicians, Germany does not want to reduce its consumption, but wants to force Poland to sell its gas under the pretense of guaranteeing gas supplies to the European Union in the spirit of solidarity.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a new regulation on coordinated gas demand reduction measures. This implies cutting gas demand by 15% for all EU member states in the period from August 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, which will save the bloc to 45 billion cubic meters of gas. Initially this will be voluntary, but if the goal is not reached, it may become mandatory. The proposals of the European Commission will enter into force after they are approved by a qualified majority of EU member states in the EU Council.