BRUSSELS — Any discussion of reviving energy ties with Russia is “illusory,” Belgium’s top energy official said, pushing back against a growing chorus of voices in Europe calling for restarting imports from Moscow.
“It is fanciful to believe that from one day to the next, we will return to business as usual with Russia, saying, ‘We are going to act as if nothing happened,’” Belgian Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet told POLITICO in his first interview with the international press since taking office.
“All this is a discussion that intellectually is prompting certain armchair discussions, but today does not seem realistic to me,” he said. “This is an illusory debate.”
Bihet’s stance confirms that Belgium’s new government — which swung right under Prime Minister Bart De Wever — is not changing course on Russian energy, despite the United States-led attempt to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Similarly, Bihet said Belgium still supports phasing out its Russian liquefied natural gas imports, but stopped short of backing an outright ban.
