Poland and Slovakia on Friday inaugurated a gas pipeline linking their networks that could boost their energy security after Russia's war in Ukraine sparked a European energy crunch.
Russia has reduced or halted gas supplies to several European Union countries in recent months, with Poland cut off and Slovakia receiving only 40 per cent of the agreed volume.
The interconnector will allow Slovakia to receive gas from Norway as well as liquefied natural gas transiting through Poland, said Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger at a press conference to inaugurate the facility alongside Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.
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"This link gives us a new feeling of security and a feeling of freedom, because we will no longer be dependent on Russian gas," Heger said in Strachocina, a town in Poland near the Slovakia border.
The facility will enable Poland to receive gas from Algeria via Italy and Slovakia.
Morawiecki used the occasion to take another swipe at Germany's Nord Stream gas connection with Russia.
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"It's a peace pipeline, unlike the one that was built by Germany and Russia with the support of other countries, Nord Stream I and II, which were war pipelines," Morawiecki said.
