VILNIUS – “We need a European solution as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on the issue of the energy crisis in an interview with the Lithuanian state TV channel LRT late on Monday.

Mitsotakis said that he was glad that the last European Council reached agreement on coming up with a single European solution that would also include a cap on the TTF index for the wholesale gas market in order to avoid excessive price rises of natural gas. He added that this would be a radical solution that will help all European countries to reduce the cost of energy. In the meantime, like most European countries, and Lithuania, businesses and households have been supported, the surplus profits of energy producers have been taxed and the revenue was used to support the citizens, he noted.

However, the prime minister said that until a European solution is found, it will remain very difficult for member-states to continue to support their citizens, households and businesses through national budgets. “Therefore, we need a European solution as soon as possible,” he stressed.

Mitsotakis also mentioned that Greece, like many other European countries, is quite dependent on natural gas. “And we have all faced great difficulties because of Putin’s weaponisation of natural gas. And we have argued that we need to address the root cause of inflation, which is very high gas prices, with an intervention at the European level,” he pointed out.

The prime minister also stated that relations between Greece and Lithuania can be significantly improved and that the two countries cooperate very closely in the European Council.