After an extensive international career that has taken me to several countries, many of them in the Eastern Region due to my knowledge of Russian and Eastern affairs, I have no doubt that peace must be defended at all costs. Furthermore, having seen first-hand how peace crises are usually a product of energy crises, I am a strong advocate of engagement and energy diplomacy to balance the energy needs of multiple countries.
Peace and energy needs are not always good bedfellows, but they must co-exist and interact, not only out of political commitment but also out of necessity. Affordable energy has become a matter of national security and a foreign policy objective.
Although the EU was founded on a coal agreement, it then became an economic union and energy integration was not part of it. Energy was seen as a matter of sovereignty for each member state. But now the situation has changed. Energy is the cornerstone of the EU and must play its role as a key element of its defence policy. Energy that must be decarbonised and greened, in line with the commitments already made by the EU.
So let us all work together for a greener world, without forgetting the need for a more equal world where women must play a leading role in the WPS agenda.
