Romania must take all measures to ensure the rescue of the Oltenia Energy Complex and the redirection of funds from the Fair Transition Fund to the energy transition, says former President Traian Basescu, in an interview for financialintelligence.ro.

“Natural gas could contribute to facilitating the transition to a decarbonised economy. Without investments in gas projects, Romania and other Member States would see the impossibility of meeting the new European carbon emission targets… Nuclear energy should be treated seriously, taking into account a high standard of nuclear safety,” says Basescu.

At the same time, he believes that Romania is obliged to favor the development of wind energy production, and the Green Deal could be useful in the Black Sea region and Romania should speculate on this opportunity.

“The European Union understands to mobilize EUR 1 billion in 10 years for this Ecological Pact and for Europe to become carbon neutral. It’s just an assessment. In my opinion, it will cost much more. But what does a climate-neutral Europe mean? It certainly won’t have the same meaning for everyone. The Ecological Pact will mean retraining, job loss, need for investment, adaptation to climate change, avoiding increased energy costs, stopping sea erosion and heat that will trigger epidemics of heart and lung disease, new waves of climate immigrants. All these are connected to the Ecological Pact,” said Basescu.