EurActiv: EU, US promote alternative projects, following South Stream failure

The cancellation of the South Stream pipeline project will not make the European Union more vulnerable to shortages caused by Russia cutting off gas to the Ukraine, senior EU and US officials said yesterday (3 December).

Diplomats met in Brussels for the EU-US Energy Council, held two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ditched the plan to pipe natural gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria.

The meeting was attended by the EU’s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and US Secretary of State John Kerry. The latest Council was a show of unity against Russia’s use of energy supplies as a political tool.

Speaking afterwards, senior EU and US officials said the pipeline would have reinforced the dominance of Russian gas at a time when diversification of suppliers and routes were needed.
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