Nicosia, Cyprus — Painful fuel shortages and rising oil and gas prices due to the Iran war have led the EU to seriously consider financing alternative energy routes to avoid hot spots such as the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday the EU is ready to work with Persian Gulf countries on new projects delivering energy to global markets that will not become hostage to war or geopolitical conflict.
“The events of the last month have taught us a hard lesson,” von der Leyen told a news conference at the end of an informal meeting of EU leaders in the Cyprus capital. “Our security is not just related, it is intrinsically linked. A threat to a merchant ship in the Strait of Hormuz is a threat to a factory, for example, in Belgium.”
The EU executive called for enhanced defense ties and promoted the bloc’s maritime security mission in the Red Sea as a potential naval security option in the Persian Gulf, but focused his public comments on European support for repairing and building Middle East energy sites.
“We are also ready to team up with Gulf countries to diversify export infrastructure away from the mere barrier of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that he also offered to help repair war-damaged Gulf energy infrastructure.
One-fifth of the world’s oil and gas usually passes through here. strait of hormuzBut the war has largely closed the waterway, causing fuel prices to rise.
Brent crude was up 98 cents at $100.33 a barrel early Friday. U.S. benchmark crude rose 81 cents to $96.66 a barrel.
Von der Leyen reiterated that as a result of rising oil and gas prices, the 27-nation bloc’s energy bill has increased by 25 billion euros ($29.3 billion) in the past 43 days.
Neither he nor European Council President Antonio Costa provided precise details of which projects were being considered or when they would move forward. But von der Leyen was cited India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor Between the European Union and the world’s largest democracy.
Von der Leyen said a summit between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council later this year would give both sides an opportunity to explore such projects.
The rotating EU presidency is currently held by Cyprus, an island nation bordering Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Türkiye. Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides has sought to bring the bloc closer to Middle East countries in order to strengthen their economies and strengthen their security.
That focus was underlined by his guests at an informal summit of EU leaders: Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and GCC Secretary-General Jassam Mohammed Albudaiwi.
“We know that Europe needs Syria as much as Syria needs Europe,” al-Shara said.
Costa praised Aoun for imposing restrictions on the military activities of Hezbollah, which he described as an “existential threat” to Lebanon, and promised to assist the country in disarming the terrorist group.
Costa said that “the EU is not part of the conflict, but we will be part of the solution.”
Human rights groups criticized EU leaders for not increasing pressure on Israel over its military operations in the Middle East.
EU leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said they would not lift sanctions on Iran until a number of issues were resolved, including ending its missile program and support for proxies within the region.
“It is too early to talk about any kind of restriction relief,” Costa said.
Cyprus came under attack early in the war when a stealth drone fired from Lebanon on March 2 damaged an aircraft hangar at a British military base on the southern coast of the island. Greece, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands sent warships with anti-drone capabilities to defend the island.
This has led to renewed interest in a clause in the EU’s fundamental treaties regarding mutual assistance if a member state is attacked.
Christodoulides said EU leaders had agreed to begin creating a formal mechanism for such responses because they agreed that “ad hoc arrangements” are unreliable.
——- McNeil reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Bara Anwar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia contributed to this report.
