Swedish government counting on Europe to fix energy crisis

 

Social Democrat party leader and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is hoping to find a European solution to what her opponents consider a problem her party helped create as Sweden faces soaring energy prices ahead of the elections.

At a press conference on Saturday with Finance Minister Mikael Damberg and Energy Minister and Digitalisation Khashayar Farmanbar, Andersson said that the energy crisis needed an EU solution.

“Electricity prices on Europe’s electricity market must be decoupled from the exorbitant gas prices that Russia has created,” she said, adding that decisions should be taken at the EU level to drive down electricity costs, potentially halving the soaring energy prices.

She noted, however, that bringing electricity prices down and getting new EU rules will take time. “A decision taken by the whole EU before the Swedish elections does not seem likely,” she said. (...)