DISINFO: WSJ: Europe’s full storage gas sites are in fact a reflection of its weakness and vulnerability
SUMMARY
European gas storage sites in full capacity are “a reflection of weakness” and vulnerability, according to the US outlet The Wall Street Journal. Why? EU member countries are close to reach the goal, imposed by Brussels’ new rules, of filling its gas deposits at 90% ahead of 1 November 2023. However, despite that it may look like an achievement, this fact is actually an indicator of certain problems that the European economy is suffering and doesn’t exclude more risks.
RESPONSE
This is a gross distortion of the original article by the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ article reports under an unequivocally positive light on how the EU achieved its gas storage targets for 2023 months ahead of its initial plans, which it labels as “a boost for the bloc’s economy” and says that it can cover “around 25% to 30% of the gas consumed in the EU during the winter, according to the bloc’s data”. Nonetheless, the publication also admits: “The energy-security situation in Europe remains fragile and dependent on fluctuations in liquefied natural gas imports, which can be uncertain”. It additionally states: “To some extent, the ballooning stockpile reflects economic weakness. Industrial demand for gas, which dropped last year when prices rocketed, hasn’t returned”.
This disinformation story exaggerates these aspects, for example introducing economic data about Europe’s alleged economic difficulties that is not present in the original article. It also establishes a false causality between all these elements, claiming that the former -Europe having its gas reserves at full capacity- implies the latter -energy vulnerability and uncertainty-, something that is neither true nor stated in the original story.
Pro-Kremlin media frequently resort to this manipulative technique of quoting sentences from serious publications or journalists and then introducing a distorted message as if it were part of the original story.
All this is part of a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign aiming to promote Russia’s energy blackmail against Europe, which ultimately failed in 2022 but may reemerge in late 2023.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the 11th package of anti-Russian sanctions puts EU energy security at risk, that the price cap on Russian oil will destroy the EU, that Europe suffered more from sanctions than Russia, and that the gas price cap violates market principles and harms Europe more than Russia.