A video of Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is currently going viral. It comes from a press conference at Schloss Meseberg in Gransee, Brandenburg. Germany is currently not dependent on Russian gas supplies, Habeck emphasized there. Then his remarks became bizarre.
The gas should not be completely “Russia-free”, as the Vice Chancellor then conceded: “It may be that Russian molecules are in the gas mix via the LNG terminals of the neighboring countries, through which gas volumes come. This can neither be controlled nor ruled out. However, German companies do not buy LNG gas (liquefied natural gas) from Russian companies or in Russia. In this respect, it would be an easily replaceable molecule component of the gas.”
Like atoms, molecules are elementary building blocks of chemistry. They are indistinguishable, without identity and without nationality. There are just as few Russian molecules as there are German ones. In this respect, you really can’t “control” or “exclude” anything here. The German economics minister probably meant small amounts of Russian gas, but expressed himself more than clumsily. The mockery on Twitter is enormous.
Explosive: The neighboring EU countries, from which Germany procures gas, among other things, have increased their purchases of Russian LNG by 21 percent compared to 2021. In total, the EU bought more Russian LNG gas in 2022 than before.
For those interested in science: Ultimately, talking about “Russian molecules” is just as absurd as warnings about “nuclear power”: Electricity is electricity, whatever it was generated from. It also makes no sense to distinguish between electricity generated by hydroelectric power plants and electricity generated by coal-fired power plants. Of course, that doesn’t stop Green politicians in particular from warning about nuclear power just as much as they do about Russian molecules.