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ENERGY

Russia suspends gas to Italy after ‘problem’ in Austria

Russia's Gazprom has suspended gas deliveries to Italy's Eni, blaming a transport problem in Austria, the Italian energy giant said on Saturday.

Eni Headquarters near Milan
This file picture from 2017 shows the headquarters of the Italian oil and gas company Eni in San Donato Milanese, near Milan. Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Eni on Saturday. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

“Gazprom told us that it was not able to confirm the delivery of the volumes demanded for today, citing the impossibility of gas transport through Austria,” Eni said in a statement.

As a result, “Russian gas flows to Eni via the Tarvisio entry point will be naught”, it said.

In a statement published on Telegram, Gazprom said the problem was due to regulatory changes in Austria that took place at the end of September and that it was working with Italian customers to resolve the issue.

According to Gazprom, the Austrian gas grid operator had refused to confirm the transport nominations.

In Austria, regulatory authority E-Control said the new rules, which entered into force on Saturday, had been “known to all market actors for months”.

It said it expected “all to conform and take the necessary measures to fulfil their obligations”.

The problems were related to “contractual details” linked to the transit of gas towards Italy, it said on Twitter, adding in response to a tweeted question that this currently had “no effect” on users in Austria.

Most of Russian gas delivered to Italy passes via Ukraine through the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG), to Tarvisio in northern Italy on the border with Austria.

Before the war in Ukraine, Italy imported 95 percent of the gas it consumes — about 45 percent of which came from Russia.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi has signed new deals with other gas producers to reduce Italy’s reliance on Russia, lowered to 25 percent as of June, while accelerating a shift towards renewable energies.

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UKRAINE

Italian deputy PM Salvini calls France’s Macron ‘danger’ for Europe

Italy's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, accused French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday of endangering Europe by refusing to rule out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine.

Italian deputy PM Salvini calls France's Macron 'danger' for Europe

The comments by Salvini, whose far-right League party is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government, came during a gathering in Rome of right-wing and nationalist European leaders to rally support ahead of EU parliamentary elections in June.

Macron’s suggestion last month that Western ground troops could be sent to Ukraine was “extremely dangerous, excessive and out of balance,” Salvini told the event organised by the European Parliament’s Identity and Democracy political group.

“I think that President Macron, with his words, represents a danger for our country and our continent,” Salvini said during his speech, which largely stressed conservative family values.

“The problem isn’t mums and dads but the warmongers like Macron who talk about war as if there were no problem now,” he added.

“I don’t want to leave our children a continent ready to enter World War Three.”

READ ALSO: Macron says ground operations in Ukraine possible ‘at some point’

Portugal’s Andre Ventura, leader of Portugal’s far-right party Chega that surged in a general election earlier this month, also spoke at the event, as did Harald Vilimsky of the Freedom Party of Austria and former US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, among others.

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen did not personally attend, instead sending a video message.

The outspoken Salvini, who serves as transport minister, is a hardline populist whose comments have often landed him in hot water.

Earlier this month, he responded to the Russian election result by saying: “When a people vote, they are always right”.

Following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last month, he said it was “up to Russian doctors and judges” to determine the cause.

Salvini has previously expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Macron’s comments last month in which he refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners.

 
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