A German lawmaker has called for restart of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, as the halt of gas transit caused soaring energy prices in the European Union (EU) states.
The halt in Russian gas transit through Ukraine has heightened fears over supply shortages and soaring energy costs in Europe.
Both Ukraine and Russia announced the stoppage of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine's territory to Europe on Wednesday, pushing some EU countries to resort to costlier energy alternatives.
Sevim Dagdelen, left-wing Member of German Bundestag, wrote on her social media platform on Thursday that the halt of the transit of Russian gas in Europe further drives the energy price up, complaining that "the German government and the EU are happily watching the destruction of European industry due to high energy prices."
Dagdelen proposed that Germany should take immediate action to repair and restart the Nord Stream pipeline to alleviate the problem of natural gas shortages.
Dagdelen is not the first German lawmaker to call for the restart of the Nord Stream pipeline. Last September, Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany, said that this submarine pipeline is the lifeline of German industry and that the Nord Stream pipeline must be repaired, restarted and protected.
On New Year's Day, European natural gas futures prices hit their highest level since October 2023 after Russia's natural gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were stopped.
In addition, the supply cut has begun to affect many European countries, including Slovakia and its neighbor Poland.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday said that the halt will have "severe consequences for all of us in the European Union (EU), but will not harm Russia."
Fico said that Slovakia stands to lose hundreds of millions of euros in gas transit fees, while its citizens will face higher gas and electricity bills. He criticized major EU nations for prioritizing geopolitical goals at the expense of smaller countries' interests and needs.
On the same day, Slovakia's gas importer, SPP, announced that it has contingency plans in place to ensure gas supplies through alternative channels, such as utilizing pipelines from Germany and Hungary. However, this will incur additional transit fees.
At present, Slovakia is considering taking retaliatory measures against Ukraine. The ruling coalition in Slovakia has reached a preliminary agreement to stop the supply of electricity to Ukraine and significantly reduce support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia. The government is expected to announce the decision next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Slovakia's neighbor Poland, some officials have proposed that if Slovakia cuts off the power supply to Ukraine, Poland is willing to transport electricity from its own power plants to help Ukraine through the difficulties.
In this regard, Lukasz Wojdyga, director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, pointed out that Poland's electricity production mainly relies on coal, and the additional emission costs it pays account for 60 percent of the energy price, making Poland one of the countries with the most expensive electricity prices in the European Union. If Poland is determined to help Ukraine fill the electricity gap, transmitting electricity to Ukraine will further increase costs, and ultimately the interests of its own consumers will be harmed, he noted.
German lawmaker calls for restart of Nord Stream pipeline
German lawmaker calls for restart of Nord Stream pipeline
A strategic imperative for China to accelerate its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven socioeconomic transformation is the deep alignment between the cultivation of AI talent and the needs of industrial development, said a Chinese economics professor on Wednesday.
Commenting on the outcomes of the annual Central Economic Work Conference held a week earlier in an interview with the China Global Television Network, Song Huasheng, a professor at the School of Economics of China's prestigious Zhejiang University, shared his insights into a key message of the annual event convened by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council in Beijing, where the top leaders reviewed the previous year's economic performance and set priorities for the year ahead.
Among the priorities outlined for 2026's economic work, the meeting highlighted the need to develop the AI sector, including improving governance, making comprehensive plans to advance education, technology and talent development, and deepening AI' integration across the economy and society.
Significantly, the meeting said it is essential to develop international technological innovation centers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a source of original innovation, in the Yangtze River Delta as a hub for application-oriented innovation, and in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a cross-border collaboration hub and a cradle for emerging industries.
According to Song, who also serves as executive director of Zhejiang University's Institute of International Economics, policies are needed to first regulate the use of AI.
"To fully unleash AI's potential, we need to establish governance systems that balance innovations and risks. First, using technology to govern technology to build a safety foundation, AI governance must first establish protective measures at the technological levels regarding public concerns about AI-generated content. Secondly, building a new mechanism for multi-stakeholder's governance. This requires institutional innovations to keep pace with technological development," he said.
The professor stressed that a key investment in AI's long-term development is the nurturing of high-caliber human resources, noting that more needs to be done to address the mismatch between university talent cultivation and needs of core industries.
"I believe that universal talent cultivation must closely align with the demands of industries to provide robust talent support for high-quality development. Currently, there's a misalignment between university talent cultivation and the needs of key industries, primarily reflected in outdated courses design, weak practical training of components and insufficient interdisciplinary integrations. So, the rapid development of key industry trends imposes high requirements on talent, necessitating universities to proactively adapt to industrial transformations," he said.
"Universities should dynamically adjust program offering and optimize curriculum systems based on the demands of key industries. Universities need to establish close partnerships with enterprises through joint lab internship base and other means. For the first time, the conference proposed the establishment of international science and innovation centers in Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region), Shanghai (the Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," he added.
As the global AI development picks up, China needs to strengthen innovation to become a leader in the sector and boost its technological and economic progress, according to Song.
"On the one hand, from the perspective of international competition, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is unfolding. On the other hand, from a domestic perspective, to implement the innovation-driven development strategy, it is necessary to promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industry innovation," said the professor.
Expert stresses alignment between AI talent cultivation, industrial needs in push for new growth drivers
