Von der Leyen promises to "prioritize" the gas pipeline between Spain and France to reduce dependence on Russia: "It is crucial"

The gas pipeline despised by the current Spanish government since 2018 is "crucial" to reduce dependence on Russia, according to the president of the European Commission,

, who has promised to give it priority after the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

"We are going to give priority to cross-border projects, for example, the critical interconnection between Portugal, Spain and France. Because together we can free ourselves from Russian threats", he stated in the presence of the President of the Government,

and the President of the Generalitat,

.

The German has come to Barcelona to collect the Europe award at the annual meeting of the Círculo de Economía.

Von der Leyen stressed that "over the years, Spain has built a resilient energy system, based on its own renewable energies and a diversified network of energy providers".

But he has claimed the importance of gas during the energy transition in contrast to the contempt shown by the third vice president,

, who bet in 2019 that the new gas pipeline between Spain and France, the so-called Midcat through Catalonia, would be forgotten and out of the list of projects of common European interest.

"

and has already become the main distribution center for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Africa and America."

For his part, the President of the Government has announced that "finally after arduous weeks of negotiation", he has reached an agreement with the Portuguese government for a joint proposal to limit the price of gas.

Although he and António Costa reached an EU agreement for an "Iberian exception" they had not agreed between them.

Sánchez has asked Von der Leyen to approve it.

The president also mentioned the importance of "interconnections" and thanked the German company for its support.

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