EU 'must' shift to renewables to end fossil fuel 'blackmail from war-driving authoritarian regimes'
Issued on: 23/04/2026 - FRANCE24
Play (12:12 min)From the show
François Picard is pleased to welcome Hannah Neumann, German MEP, Greens/EFA and Chair of the EU Parliament's Delegation for Iran. She offers analysis on the growing geopolitical instability surrounding Iran, energy security, and the EU’s strategic position in an increasingly fragmented global order. According to Neumann, the central issue is not merely the volatility of negotiations, but their lack of clarity and coherence. From her vantage point, "the main problem is that they don't even have a clear focus on what they are negotiating about".
Neumann argues that current diplomatic efforts suffer from an absence of defined objectives, concerning nuclear policy, maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, or broader regime-related questions. At the same time, she sheds light on a critical blind spot: the systematic exclusion of Iranian civil society from international discourse, exacerbated by digital repression.
Meanwhile, she places Europe’s vulnerability within its structural dependence on fossil fuels, which exposes it to geopolitical coercion. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine "show how interconnected these different conflicts are and how absurd the situation is".
Case in point: As the EU has reached a solution with Hungary to offer a €90 billion lifeline to Ukraine, the oil flowing through the Druzhba pipeline also "supports the Russian war economy". She contends that true political autonomy for the European Union can only emerge through a decisive transition to renewable energy. In the meantime, "these war-driving authoritarian regimes can basically blackmail us with their fossil energy".
OUR GUEST Hannah NEUMANN German MEP, Group of the Greens/EFA
BY: François PICARD
Ilayda HABIP
VIDEO BY: François PICARD
Play (12:12 min)From the show
François Picard is pleased to welcome Hannah Neumann, German MEP, Greens/EFA and Chair of the EU Parliament's Delegation for Iran. She offers analysis on the growing geopolitical instability surrounding Iran, energy security, and the EU’s strategic position in an increasingly fragmented global order. According to Neumann, the central issue is not merely the volatility of negotiations, but their lack of clarity and coherence. From her vantage point, "the main problem is that they don't even have a clear focus on what they are negotiating about".
Neumann argues that current diplomatic efforts suffer from an absence of defined objectives, concerning nuclear policy, maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, or broader regime-related questions. At the same time, she sheds light on a critical blind spot: the systematic exclusion of Iranian civil society from international discourse, exacerbated by digital repression.
Meanwhile, she places Europe’s vulnerability within its structural dependence on fossil fuels, which exposes it to geopolitical coercion. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine "show how interconnected these different conflicts are and how absurd the situation is".
Case in point: As the EU has reached a solution with Hungary to offer a €90 billion lifeline to Ukraine, the oil flowing through the Druzhba pipeline also "supports the Russian war economy". She contends that true political autonomy for the European Union can only emerge through a decisive transition to renewable energy. In the meantime, "these war-driving authoritarian regimes can basically blackmail us with their fossil energy".
OUR GUEST Hannah NEUMANN German MEP, Group of the Greens/EFA
BY: François PICARD
Ilayda HABIP
VIDEO BY: François PICARD
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