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The Prime Minister revealed, on Friday, the European Commission’s recognition of the possibility of finding an alternative to the gas pipeline route that will connect Central Europe with the Iberian Peninsula. Antonio Costa says this “interconnection” countered “the environmental constraints indicated by France regarding the impact of the gas pipeline crossing the Pyrenees” and may come as an alternative to linking Spain (and Portugal) to Italy, implying a link across the Mediterranean to reach the central Europe.
Among the various topics he addressed, in very long remarks he made on the sidelines of a visit to a daycare center, Antonio Costa said that this possibility had been “put on the table” by the European Commission “in case this is not the case” and stressed that “it is It is possible to bypass the blockade with France “and allow it to reach central Europe through Italy and not through France”.
The Prime Minister also said that the works, on the Portuguese side, are “very advanced”. At stake is the third Spanish gas connection that was shut down after Madrid and Paris brought down the Midcat project.
“There are 160 kilometers between Celorico da Beira and the point on the border where we connect to the Spanish network,” explained Antonio Costa, who said this was a “very old ambition” of Portugal. The original proposed route to cross the Douro Wine region was rejected, but Antonio Costa noted that doubts about the environmental impact of the Douro Valley had been overcome and that “there is a route that protects the environmental values that must be protected” in that region.
Together with Spain, the country has “the ability to replace a significant part of the gas that Central Europe currently imports from Russia”. And German Chancellor Olaf Schulz’s call this Thursday “is very important because it increases pressure” and makes “European institutions take the place of the situation.” The German chancellor on Thursday defended the need to move forward in this engagement between Portugal, Spain and the rest of Europe.
The subject is “not only of interest to Germany, but also to Poland and Hungary”, which are highly dependent on Russian gas and which may depend on gas arriving at the Iberian Peninsula front from other points. Despite the lack of any of this, the Prime Minister asserts that Portugal has already offered these same countries an opportunity to use the port of enclaves “as a logistical platform that accelerates the distribution of natural gas by sea to ports in Central Europe.”
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