The project to connect the regasification capacity of
Spain
with the European energy demand through a gas pipeline - the
MidCat
- that crosses the
Pyrenees
is of vital strategic importance.
And not only does it constitute
a unique opportunity for the Spanish economy, but it would come to remedy
, in the reasonable period of time that the construction of the MidCat would take, the dramatic dependence on Russian gas that many European countries have, with
Germany
at the forefront.
Chancellor
Scholz
has given a
support for this project, attributing to this infrastructure the power to "contribute greatly" to facilitating the supply that
today it is threatened by Putin's war calculations
.
It should be remembered that the German authorities themselves are already beginning to predict not one, but
two very harsh winters due to Moscow's plans to use the cold of the Europeans to break the Ukrainian resistance
, which needs the military help of Western democracies.
Nevertheless,
France's initial reaction
-which would be the country in charge of transporting the gas to the center of the continent-
is more than just a jug of cold water
.
It was to be hoped that the detonation of a war on European soil would help modulate the traditional suspicion of
Paris
, whose commercial interests (it sells its own energy to other European partners) would collide with the strengthening of the Spanish position.
It is not difficult to guess selfish motivations behind the arguments put forward by France to oppose the infrastructure, related to the cost and duration of the works.
It happens that the European project is based on the defense of common values that imply concessions of sovereignty
: If each member exclusively asserted its national interest, common objectives would never be set nor would the shared agenda be advanced.
And so, the long-awaited achievement of the strategic autonomy of the EU in energy, migration, tax, defense or foreign policy matters will be postponed
sine die
.
It would be desirable for the Government's foreign action to make itself felt now effectively
.
It is of little use to fall into complacency over the more or less publicity success of the summit of the
NATO
if at the moment of truth the Spanish demands are not attended to in the decision-making centers of
Europe
.
Spain and Germany must make common cause in
Brussels
to make France reconsider in the general interest: no country has the number of regasification plants as Spain.
For the rest, it is obligatory to regret that Sánchez's diplomatic errors with respect to the Maghreb have weakened our negotiating position.
The deterioration of relations between Algeria and Spain has not been reversed after the crisis unleashed in June by support for Morocco's plan on Western Sahara
, for which the supply of Algerian gas to Spain has been significantly reduced in retaliation.
As a consequence, there is the bloody paradox that our country has doubled the import of Russian gas in the middle of the war, which means that the Spaniards are financing the atrocities of Putin's army to a greater extent than before the invasion.
The Government still has time to fight in Brussels so as not to lose the unique opportunity that MidCat represents.
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