Poland is ready to share its natural gas reserves as part of any future solidarity mechanism within the European Union, but only with those that have demonstrated solidarity with the country, Poland’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk said on Tuesday.
The minister was responding to a question put to him during an interview on Polish public news channel TVP Info, specifically on whether Poland was ready to share its surplus gas with Germany.
He replied that as a country with secure gas supplies independent of Russia, Poland was prepared to share its gas reserves, but that the Polish government would prioritize administrations that had stood in solidarity with the administration over Russia and the ongoing issues with the European Commission.
Szynkowski vel Sęk reminded viewers that as a result of policies that foresaw a potential crisis with gas supplies, Poland is one of the few countries that have secured adequate gas supplies ahead of the winter season.
Indeed, Poland has the highest rate of gas storage in Europe, with 95 percent of its storage facilities full, representing 3.35 billion cubic meters in total.
The minister opined that as a result of increases in domestic production, LNG imports, and the activation of the Baltic Pipe gas line, it was likely that Poland would have a surplus of gas.
The Polish diplomat confirmed the country was ready to talk about sharing the surplus as long as Poland’s needs were first met. He said that the exact size of the surplus would only be known closer to winter.
Asked about the supply of German Leopard tanks, which were to be made available to compensate for Poland delivering tanks to Ukraine, the state secretary admitted that these talks seem to have reached a dead end. “There is no proposal that we could accept,” he said.
Szynkowski vel Sęk added that Germany seemed to have made an offer that it could not realize and that this kind of “PR-based approach” was not the kind of behavior expected of serious partners.
The European Commission is expected to publish a communique about reducing demand for gas in order to alleviate shortages in winter. The plans are to affect both domestic and industrial consumers.
