Ending the war in the region is necessary first of all to stop the growing global economic turmoil, she said, speaking in Canberra (Australia).
According to her, the situation is now “critical for the energy supply of allies around the world,” since about 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass through the strait.
Von der Leyen compared the consequences of the fuel crisis with those that Europe “experienced” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the newspaper writes. As she put it, what the EU “considered as unshakable has been called into question. The blanket of comfort that we had yesterday has been torn out of our hands,” she added.
On March 23, US President Donald Trump said he had ordered a five-day delay in attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure. After this, oil futures fell by more than 11%. According to the London ICE Exchange, Brent oil was trading at approximately $100 per barrel the day before (before the announcement, the price was approximately $112.9). European gas prices also fell sharply – by 8.9%.
Context
Against the backdrop of the war between the United States and Israel with Iran, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important routes for global oil trade, through which millions of barrels of crude oil and petroleum products pass from the Middle East to Asia, Europe and the United States every day, has practically stopped since March 1. Oil prices began to rise sharply.
On March 10, information appeared in the media that Iran had allegedly begun mining the strait. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the US Navy will escort tankers from companies that cooperate with the Americans through the Strait of Hormuz.
On March 14, US President Donald Trump called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain and other countries to send their ships to create conditions of openness and security in the Strait of Hormuz
On March 17, White House adviser Kevin Gassett said that tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was supposedly being restored, and Iran's attempts to restrict shipping on this route had not caused damage to the US economy. On the same day, the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, proposed introducing an analogue of the “grain agreement” concluded during the Russian-Ukrainian war to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
