Wadephul: Europe must learn from Kiev’s resilience on energy security

Europe must learn from Ukraine’s resilience in resisting attacks on energy infrastructure, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Tuesday at an international conference on energy security in Berlin.

“Today is about listening to Ukraine’s political and economic decision-makers, communities, civil societies, and experts to learn from their experience, their flexibility, their perseverance and their innovativeness,” Wadephul said. “Because Ukraine has accumulated hard-earned expertise that the European Union urgently needs to bolster its own resilience and energy security.”

Critical infrastructure is increasingly a “frontline of geopolitical confrontation,” the minister said, warning that “neither Germany nor our allies and partners in Europe are immune.”

Wadephul highlighted the rise in hybrid attacks on European infrastructure, including cyberattacks, drone sightings over energy facilities and damage to undersea cables. Many have been attributed to Russia, which has been waging war against its neighbour Ukraine for over four years.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal was among those in attendance at the meeting in the German capital, which brought together representatives from the Group of 7 (G7), European Union and NATO as well as business associations, academia and civil society to draw lessons from Kiev’s wartime experiences.

Among the key markers of resilience in an “age of permanent disruption” are the physical protection of infrastructure, ensuring cybersecurity, but also “rapid repair capabilities” and decentralization, Wadephul said.

“Highly centralized systems may be efficient in peacetime, but they can become an extra vulnerable crisis situation,” the minister warned. “Distributed generation, mobile capacity, microgrids, energy storage, and redundancy all increase survivability.”

“Societal resilience cannot simply be switched on during a crisis,” Wadephul argued. “We have to establish it beforehand.”