The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has asked the community partners, including Spain, for solidarity to face the energy crisis derived from the cut in gas supplies by Russia and which mainly affects Germany.

"European solidarity must apply to all"

, declared this Friday the chancellor, who as his vice-chancellor and economy minister, the green

Robert Habeck

, did the day before, expressly supported the proposal of the president of the EC,

Ursula von der Leyen

, to , through general savings, cover the energy needs of those at risk.

The emergency measure - widely perceived as designed to save Berlin in case its gas link to Russia, the Nord Stream pipeline, goes out of business - would allow the EU executive to impose

a mandatory 15% cut in the gas consumption from august to may

.

This measure could be "activated at any time", in case the shortage of supplies made it necessary to distribute it among the EU's neighbours.

Poland, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus and Greece have already said emphatically "no

" to the power grab that Brussels grants itself with that plan, which requires a qualified majority for its approval.

15 countries are needed, representing 65% of the bloc's population, and the veto is not allowed.

Hungary has gone a step further, announcing that it has no intention of letting any gas out of its borders from next month.

Indeed, Hungarian Foreign Minister

Péter Szijjártó flew to Moscow on Thursday in a bid to buy more Russian supplies

while possible.

Scholz emphasized that the Commission's plan includes "differentiated" proposals that take into account consumption, import structures", so it is,

in Scholz's opinion, balanced, in addition to contemplating situations such as that of the Iberian Peninsula.

The chancellor thus responded to the rejection expressed by the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition,

Teresa Ribera

, who responded to Brussels that the Spanish "have not lived beyond their means" in energy matters.

"We are all confronted with great challenges

, no country can say that the rise in prices does not concern them and that they are not affected by the challenges related to gas," the foreign minister insisted.

The initiative drawn up by the EC, which is pending approval by the Twenty-seven by a simple majority, which Scholz has no doubt will be achieved.

"I view the discussions with optimism and I am convinced that community solidarity will prevail," he said, before emphasizing that the problem generated by Russian gas supplies is something "global" and "not of a single country."

EU energy ministers are due to discuss the proposal and the looming winter gas crisis at their meeting next Tuesday, but by then the Commission's proposal could already be a lost cause.

Capitals do not want to relinquish control over energy use.

In the absence of a quorum to approve the Brussels plan, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on Thursday criticized countries that are not willing to jump on the bandwagon.

"We have to save energy in Europe, and above all gas," Habeck told

a news conference.

"And that also means that countries that are not directly affected by gas reductions from Russia must help other countries. Otherwise, there would be no European solidarity."

The only countries that have so far aligned with Germany are Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

France, Bulgaria and Italy, among others, are thinking about it.

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