I have a feeling that we are running into a dream of what hydrogen can do for us in the energy sector. It is clear that hydrogen will play a major role in making heavy industry emission-free but we must be careful not to put too much faith in hydrogen solving our energy supply challenges. This is one of the issues I raised during the Environment Committee meeting today with Commissioner Timmermans.

If we for a while turn our gaze back to European 19th century history, we see in the very heart of Europe something called the shatter zone of empires. There the spheres of interest of all the great European powers cut into each other. That made this area into a geography dripping with blood. All the shattered nationalities were, by active agents and policies from the empires, pitted against each other. At the same time and by the same token, all grievances – and you had a lot of them – were used to prevent the small subdued nationalities to form a functional identity and find a common way to independence and peace.

How should we relate Russian gas to Finnish peat? During the last meeting with the Environment Committee, I reflected on the impact of morality on the decisions we make in our work.

”The truth is the following: Every cubic meter of Russian gas Every bottle of Russian oil Every load of Russian coal is dripping with blood. Innocent Ukrainian blood.” Here you will find my full speech in plenary.