Remarks by President Charles Michel at the inauguration of the floating liquefied natural gas termin

It’s a real pleasure for me to join you to inaugurate this floating LNG terminal.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is a moment of urgency – a moment of truth -- for the European Union. We must build our European sovereignty. We must be more strategic. And we must forge our new energy independence. And now it’s clear for all to see. That’s exactly what you are doing and exactly what we are doing together.

I firmly believe we are seeing a new dawn for European energy independence. And we see clear evidence of that new future here today in this city with this new LNG terminal.

This is a very strong and positive step for our common political project because it will help to diversify our gas supply, to bolster our energy infrastructure and to phase out our dependence on Russian fossil fuels.  This will make us stronger and more secure. This project clearly contributes to the EU’s security of energy supply and also to our long-term climate change goals.

A few months ago, in Versailles, we in the European Council took strong and strategic decisions on energy. We decided that we will end our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And we will diversify our supplies and routes, including through the use of LNG.

That’s why this new LNG terminal is so timely and so important. It is a geopolitical investment and this is a geopolitical moment. It reflects what we need to do more of. It will provide security of supply to Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, and other countries in the region.

We are delivering on our goal of ensuring the connectivity with our closest partners and friends, the Western Balkans, by increasing diverse supply and by inviting these countries to participate in the EU Energy Purchase Platform that is being set up.

The terminal also builds on existing or planned key gas infrastructure projects in the region – with support from the EU.  It will help to free south-east Europe from the weaponisation of gas supply by Russia.

This LNG terminal will do more than just help us to become more energy independent. It will also drive forward our long-term climate goals because it is capable of switching to hydrogen as the technology evolves.

For all these reasons, I want to thank everyone who played an important role in making this project a reality, from public authorities to private partners to national operators.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has already had, and will continue to have, serious consequences for the security in Europe and in the world. We support Ukraine as much as we can. As we speak, the people of Ukraine are fighting for their homeland and for the future of their children. But they are also defending our freedoms and our democratic principles.

We are also sanctioning Russia to put financial, economic and political pressure on the Kremlin. Our goal is simple: we must break the Russian war machine. And I am confident that the Council will imminently impose further sanctions, notably on Russian oil.

This project that we inaugurate today sends a clear signal: we are taking our destiny into our own hands. We are not only talking about EU sovereignty and strategic autonomy. We are acting, together with our Western Balkan friends, to make Europe more strategic and to build our common future. Thank you.