Today in plenary we debated Russia’s escalation of the war against Ukraine, and in my speech I spoke about the fact that we already know how the war will end, but that the road will be long and difficult. We have tended to complain about the sacrifices we face, but the price we have to pay now is countless times less than if we refuse to make sacrifices and compromises. It also opens the way to looking ahead, to the Europe of the future.

We have a compromise for the directive on renewable energy sources. As compromises often mean, we have managed to reach a better consensus among the political groups, while no one is completely satisfied. In my speech in plenary, I wanted to remind my colleagues who hesitate on the issue, that we are far from finished with the negotiations. It is therefore extremely important that parliament now approves the compromise we have reached, so that negotiations can continue as soon as possible with the European Council and the Commission in view of our shared ultimate goal of tackling the climate and energy crisis.

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.