Energy Union Commissioner supports LNG terminal in Croatia

An LNG terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk is one of the future projects important for the European Energy Union and an answer to many dilemmas that currently exist, European Commission Vice President and European Energy Union Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Wednesday.

He was responding to a question from Croatian member of the European Parliament Tonino Picula, who asked Sefcovic how he viewed the terminal as an energy hub for supplying central Europe and the wider area with liquefied gas.

Sefcovic said it was an important project but that outstanding issues, first and foremost pertaining to infrastructure and finances, still needed to be solved.

Following strong support from Washington, this puts additional wind into Croatia's sails to become an important regional energy hub, Picula's office said.

Sefcovic voiced his support for the LNG terminal at a meeting of the Socialists and Democrats group meeting in Strasbourg, where he presented his position ahead of the adoption of an Energy Union strategy which the Commission announced for February 25.

The Energy Union is aimed at reducing the European Union's dependence on the import of fuels, improving energy efficiency and creating a single European energy market. Sefcovic believes the time is perfect for this for geopolitical and economic reasons.

Picula attended an interparliamentary seminar on the energy policy between EU and Western Balkan countries in Ankara last week, where he said that prioritising the construction of an LNG terminal on Krk would make it possible to create a gas supply market if Russian supplies were disrupted.

(Hina) ha

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