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Roman Haider, an EU lawmaker from the Freedom Party of Austria, told Sputnik that Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler is a "delusional green deal fanatic" who needs a reality check after the latter called on domestic suppliers to accelerate the process of decoupling from Russian gas despite that no alternative has been found so far to Russian oil. 

Gewessler's controversial call was issued on Monday during a meeting with energy companies.

"This minister is a delusional green-deal-fanatic. She has no idea how to shift away from Russian gas, so she invited the gas suppliers to tell her how. After the meeting, she didn't know any more than before. The truth is that Austria has no alternative to Russian gas," Haider said.  

Haider also ridiculed a deal that Gewessler signed with the UAE in October 2022 for the supply of LNG, noting that it would only cover 1% of Austria's energy needs. 

He further pointed out that since November 2022, Austria's share of Russian production has increased considerably, reaching 70% in December 2022. 

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In December 2022, the EU implemented a ban on the transportation of seaborne Russian oil to third countries; and in February this year, it implemented a ban on Russian fuel. 

"They always say that Austria gets 64% of its gas from Russia. But the rest comes via Germany and Italy. Austria doesn’t want to know, where these countries get that gas from … So we're prone to believe that much more than the declared 64% comes from Russia," he said, adding that social discontent over inflation in the country continues to grow.  

"People are tired of these stupid games. Prices are on the increase, people cannot afford a normal live. So they don't care where the gas comes from, as long as the prices go back to lower levels," the politician concluded.

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