European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has highlighted the economic consequences of the conflict in the Middle East for Europeans due to the EU’s high dependencies on fossil fuel imports.
“Since the beginning of the conflict, gas prices have risen by 50% and oil prices by 27%,” von der Leyen said on Wednesday in a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
“If you translate this into euros: 10 days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional €3 billion $3.5 billion, in fossil fuels imports,” she said. “That is the price of our dependence.”
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Her remarks follow the presentation of new EU energy initiatives on Tuesday, including the planned roll-out of new, smaller nuclear reactors by the early 2030s to boost the bloc’s energy production.
Von der Leyen said that the commission was currently assessing additional measures to reduce energy bills, including capping gas prices.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused energy prices in the European Union to skyrocket, the fallout from the war in Iran is the second time in a few years that energy prices in the EU have soared due to geopolitical conflicts.
Von der Leyen stressed that recent efforts to diversify fossil fuel providers are limiting the fallout of the Middle East conflict.
“But this does not mean that we are immune to price shocks. Energy markets are global,” she said.
“No matter what we do in terms of measures, as long as we import a significant share of fossil fuels from unstable regions, we are vulnerable and we are dependent.
Iran launched another wave of missile and drone attacks on Israel early Wednesday, while also targeting several Gulf States overnight, according to military and government officials.
Repeated rocket alerts sounded between midnight and the early morning in the greater Tel Aviv area as Israel’s air-defence systems intercepted incoming projectiles.
Emergency service David Adom said there were no immediate reports of injuries.
The Times of Israel reported earlier that rockets fired toward the country were either intercepted or landed in uninhabited areas.
Iran also carried out attacks across the Gulf region.
The Saudi Ministry of Defence said that seven ballistic missiles and seven drones were intercepted in various parts of the kingdom.
In Kuwait, the Kuwait Ministry of Defence reported intercepting four drones, while another crashed in open terrain.
Air-raid sirens were also heard in Bahrain.
Iranian news agency Tasnim News Agency, which is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, described the barrage as the heaviest wave of attacks since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces said its air force eliminated a drone-launch team in western Iran on Monday shortly before it could send drones toward Israel.
The Israeli military said it is operating around the clock to target Iranian infrastructure used to fire ballistic missiles, in an effort to limit attacks on Israeli territory.
DPA/NAN
