Greek Deputy Defense Minister Yiannis Kefalogiannis recently participated in a conference on the topic “The Eastern Mediterranean after Trump’s Election” organized by the New York College in Athens. In his address, he touched on the theme of the European Union’s energy security.
Over the past two years, particularly since the conflict in Ukraine, the EU’s dependence on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US has significantly increased, Kefalogiannis emphasized. This is attributed to the EU’s decision to limit its pipeline gas imports from Russia, with the goal of completely phasing out such imports by 2027.
Although the outgoing US administration under Joe Biden had temporarily put LNG export decisions on hold, the designated US President Donald Trump, after taking office, could change the energy policy towards Europe and prioritize fossil fuels, Kefalogiannis said. This would likely boost the production of shale oil and shale gas in the US and LNG exports.
According to Kefalogiannis, analysts believe that the future US administration under Trump will likely use LNG as a leverage against Europe. It is expected that the US will invest in building its LNG infrastructure and increasing exports to the EU. Kefalogiannis stated: “This creates a high dependence risk, as Europe gradually moves away from Russian gas. This would jeopardize the energy security of the EU and create a new dependence on a single supplier.”
Therefore, the EU is trying to gradually reduce its strong dependence on natural gas, Kefalogiannis announced. The goal is to become more resilient to geo-economic threats and price fluctuations. The target is to have almost half of the economy switch to green energy by 2040.