Los países de la Unión Europea respaldaron el lunes, con la oposición de Eslovaquia y Hungría, la propuesta de la Comisión Europea para adelantar a 2028 la desconexión de la UE de las importaciones de hidrocarburos rusos, normativa que aún tendrá que negociarse con el Parlamento Europeo, que quiere acelerar un año más.

«Se trata de una decisión muy importante“, dijo tras el acuerdo entre los ministros de Energía de los Veintisiete el comisario europeo de Energía y Vivienda, Dan Jørgensen, quien aseguró que el Ejecutivo ayudará en la transición “a todos los Estados miembros, incluidos aquellos que no apoyan la legislación”.

Los Estados miembros, con amplio apoyo y algunas reservas específicas, secundaron la propuesta de la Comisión Europea que, presionada por Estados Unidos, planteó que la UE acabe con los contratos de gas ruso a corto plazo en 2027, y un año después con los acuerdos a largo plazo, tanto por gasoducto como por barco.

El Consejo plantea que las modificaciones de los contratos solo se permitan por razones operativas sin aumentar volúmenes, con algunas flexibilidades para los países sin acceso al mar, y propone simplificar las obligaciones aduaneras con un sistema de autorización previa y exenciones para determinados orígenes.

Las capitales deben negociar ahora con el Parlamento Europeo, que quiere adelantar un año el calendario, con la intención de cerrar el texto antes de fin de año.

Desde la invasión de Ucrania, la UE ha prohibido las compras a Rusia de carbón y de casi todo el petróleo, pero no del gas. No obstante, antes de la guerra la Unión compraba a Moscú el 45% del gas que consumía y ha rebajado ese volumen hasta niveles que actualmente rondan el 13%.

El nuevo paso supone la ruptura total y más rápida de lo previsto, lo que genera inquietud. Grecia apoyó “completamente” la desconexión, pero pidió “medidas para corregir las perturbaciones del mercado”.

En cambio, Eslovaquia, uno de los mayores aliados de Rusia en la UE, votó en contra, argumentando que comprometería su seguridad energética. Lo mismo hizo Hungría, que sostuvo que el petróleo que podría recibir a través de Croacia no sería suficiente y dejaría a Budapest sujeta al “monopolio” de una sola vía de suministro y un tránsito con tasas elevadas, según dijo el titular húngaro Péter Szijjártó.

La posición de Hungría recibió críticas de otros socios, como Croacia, que garantizó que tiene “plena capacidad” de abastecer a Budapest, y Letonia, que cuestionó si hace falta otra “tragedia” para acabar con la dependencia energética de Moscú. Polonia agregó: “No estamos aquí para hablar de matemáticas ni números, aunque sean importantes, sino de valores”.

Otros países, como la presidencia danesa de turno del Consejo, celebraron que el bloque comunitario vaya a “dejar de financiar la máquina de guerra de Rusia” y subrayaron que “la energía que consumimos tiene que alejarse de los combustibles fósiles”.

El acuerdo es “el principio de una transición” hacia una economía descarbonizada, afirmó el ministro de Clima y Energía de Dinamarca, Lars Aagaard. En la misma línea se posicionó España, a través del secretario de Estado de Energía, Joan Groizard, quien destacó que “la energía no puede ser un arma de guerra” y mostró su apoyo al texto porque es “de alcance europeo” y contiene medidas “jurídicamente solventes”.

Groizard agregó que no basta con sustituir la dependencia energética de Rusia por otra: «No se puede dejar que un tercer país esté en disposición de chantajear a Europa en términos energéticos“.

La presidencia danesa señaló que la solución a la dependencia energética llegará a largo plazo con energía renovable autogenerada en la UE, y Jørgensen respaldó esa postura, asegurando que trabajan “muy, muy duro con los Estados miembros para ayudarles de forma que no haya ningún problema de seguridad de suministro ni subidas de precio”.

(Con información de EFE)

A Texas election review has identified thousands of illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday.

Nelson said a crosscheck of state voter records found that more than 2,700 possible illegal immigrants were registered on the voter rolls, leading to an eligibility review across the 254 counties.

The data came from a full comparison of Texas’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

«Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections,» Nelson said. «The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists.»

TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANT VOTERS

The investigation showed after running the SAVE crosscheck, that state officials could identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files have been sent to local counties to be further investigated.

This process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter’s eligibility and remove confirmed noncitizens from the rolls.

Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain an accurate voter list and to safeguard election integrity ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

«Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected,» Nelson said. «We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible – just as they do with any other data set we provide.»

Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county registrar giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled, though it can be reinstated immediately once proof of citizenship is provided. 

Nelson’s statement said confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and potential prosecution. 

The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls as several states – including Georgia, Arizona, and Florida – have conducted similar audits of voter eligibility.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than one million ineligible or outdated registrations from the state’s voter rolls, calling the effort essential to safeguard Texans’ right to vote.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POTENTIALLY COUNTED IN US CENSUS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE

Texas has confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous elections will be referred to the Office of the Attorney General for further review and potential prosecution. (Getty Images)

«These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state,» Abbott said. «The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review the voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.»

Abbott has called the initiative proof that Texas is «leading the nation in election integrity.»

A breakdown of the information was released by the Secretary of State’s office showing Harris County with the largest number of potential noncitizens at 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201), and El Paso County (165).
Smaller counties, including Andrews, Llano, and Cooke, reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.

In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. Counties began sending verification notices this week as part of the 30-day review process. 

In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had referred to the Office of Attorney General to investigate the names of 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 General Election. 

The statement released by Nelson said the referral came within weeks of Texas gaining access to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE Database.  

«Gaining access to this database has been a game-changer. Not only have we been able to identify individuals who should not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm naturalization of dozens more,» Secretary Nelson said. 

The crosscheck was made possible after the Trump Administration granted states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database for the first time.

The tool allows election officials to confirm voter citizenship against immigration and naturalization records.

The statement also said Texas was among the first states to join a pilot program with DHS, USCIS, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the database’s functionality. 

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«We are in the early stages of this pilot program, but we already see promising results. This may be the most current and accurate data set there is when it comes to citizenship verification,» Secretary Nelson said.  

County registrars are expected to complete their investigations by early December, with official removals and potential referrals to follow.

The Secretary of State’s office said the review will continue with periodic checks against federal databases to ensure accuracy. 

«The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and one of many that we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters cast a ballot in our elections,» Nelson said.