Greenpeace activists on Wednesday put up a sign saying "Peace not oil" near the NS Leader tanker which transported oil from Russia to JANAF crude oil transportation company's terminal in the town of Omisalj on the northern Croatian island of Krk, calling for an end to the import of fossil fuels from Russia, as well as an urgent transition to a climate neutral economy.

At the same time, the Primorsky Prospect tanker, which on Tuesday finished unloading oil from Russia at JANAF’s terminal, was moored near Omisalj.

For over a month, Russian armed forces have been shelling Ukrainian cities and villages, civilians and children, and its war is also financed by the Russian fossil fuel trade, Greenpeace said.

“Russian oil, fossil natural gas, and coal are still coming to Croatia and the European Union. It is scandalous that European countries are sending hundreds of millions of euros to Russia every day, thus enabling Putin to continue waging a bloody war,” said Perica Stefan of the Croatian Greenpeace office.

Stefan also slammed the idea that Europe could end its dependence on Russia by finding a new supplier of fossil energy sources.

“The answer to dependence on fossil fuels is not in finding a new “dealer”, but in accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources. That is true energy independence. Each day of hesitation on that road means a new financial injection for Putin and his war,” he said.

Greenpeace holding protests across EU countries

Since the beginning of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, European Union member states have spent over €20 billion on the import of oil, fossil natural gas and coal from Russia, Greenpeace said, adding the organisation is therefore staging similar protest rallies in Germany, France, Greece, the UK, Italy, Hungary, and Poland.

They also noted that ending dependence on fossil fuels is a matter of national and human security.

“Now we see what the real price of fossil fuel is, when it is measured in human lives, while bills skyrocket, and we already knew how detrimental they are to the environment and climate,” Stefan said. “It’s high time we unleashed the full potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency.”