Vestnik Kavkaza: Bahruz Abdolvand: "Europe's foreign policy decisions and economic interests are contradictory"

Events in eastern Ukraine, which results in sharp contradictions between the West and Russia, may have unintended consequences affecting the energy map of Europe. The coordinator of the Berlin Center for the Study of the Caspian region, an associate member of the German Society for Foreign Policy, PhD Bahruz Abdolvandof shares his ideas about risks posed by the Ukrainian crisis for Europe's energy security, as well as about the sanctions imposed by Europe against Russia. Below is the first part of our talk with the German political scientist.

Mr. Abdolvand, the issue of energy security is once again on the European agenda in relation to the Ukrainian crisis. Do you think that European energy interests are threatened by this situation?

The crisis in Ukraine and observed tensions in relations between Russia on the one hand and the United States and the EU on the other hand have once again raised doubts about the reliability of Russia as a major gas supplier in Europe. The fact that Moscow has used the issue of gas supplies to achieve its foreign policy goals will also be remembered by the Europeans, in particular the announcement made by Russia about the possibility of increasing gas prices for European consumers in response to the recently adopted anti-Russian sanctions.
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