For the last two months, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been touring Europe’s capitals to promote his idea of a EU energy union that includes a proposal to purchase jointly gas supplies from Russia. “Regardless of how the stand off over Ukraine develops, one lesson is clear: excessive dependence on Russian energy makes Europe weak,” Tusk wrote in the Financial Times in April. For Poland, domestic energy security is almost completely dependent on coal. “Europe should make full use of the fossil fuels available, including coal and shale gas. In the EU’s eastern states, Poland among them, coal is synonymous with energy security. No nation should be forced to extract minerals, but none should be prevented from doing so as long as it is done in a sustainable way. We need to fight for a cleaner planet, but we must have safe access to energy resources and jobs to finance it,” Tusk added.
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