A meeting took place on Monday in Brussels between Martin Selmayr, the Head of Representation of the European Commission in Austria, and his hierarchy concerning his controversial statement last week about Austria’s continued buying of natural gas from Russia despite the war in Ukraine.
At the Commission’s press conference on Monday, a spokesperson confirmed that the meeting had taken place but declined to comment on the outcome. “The process is on-going and what was said needs to be evaluated,” he said.
“Oh my god, 55% of Austrian gas continues to come from Russia," Selmayr was quoted as saying at a talk at the Vienna contemporary art fair last Wednesday. He was surprised that nobody in Austria is protesting against financing Russia’s war against Ukraine "Blood money is being sent daily to Russia."
The Commission issued a statement stating that it “distances itself from the regrettable and inappropriate statements made by the head of the representation office in Austria.” In fact, he was defending EU’s sanctions policy against Russia against a pro-Russian person in the audience who accused the Commission president of “warmongering” and having “blood her hands.”
Austrian ministers denounced Selmayr for his undiplomatic statement but have later tried to put the row with the Commission behind them.
Asked whether Selmayr had spoken the truth about Austria’s trade with Russia, the Commission declined to reply and referred to its position on depriving Russia of revenues to finance the war against Ukraine by sanctioning its export of fossil fuels. That said, a head of representation and other EU representatives must weigh their words carefully and that Selmayr had apparently not done.
Austria is a land-locked country and is still heavily dependent on import of natural gas via pipelines from Russia, an import which still is allowed in contrast to import of liquid gas (LNG). Import figures vary by month and Austria's share of Russian gas reportedly only dropped from 80 % before the war to 60 % last June.
The Commission said that the total import by EU member states of Russian gas (LNG + pipeline), which amounted to 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2021 decreased to 80 bcm in 2022 and 21 bcm during the first half of 2023. Overall, the share of Russian gas in EU’s total gas import has dropped from 45 % to 15 %, which is lower than the decrease in Austria.
Martin Selmayr has kept a relatively low profile since July 2019 when he was obliged to resign from his post as the Commission’s Secretary-General and moved to a post as head of the representation office in Vienna, far from the powerful post he had held in Brussel but acting as the Commission’s voice in Vienna. The transfer followed a scandal in his appointment to Secretary-General.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
