Bloomberg: Europe’s Unity on Russia Frays as Bulgaria Defends Gas Pipeline

The European Union’s united stance on the Russian annexation of Crimea is slipping as Bulgaria, its poorest member, accuses the bloc of using a plan by the country to develop a gas pipeline as a pawn in the conflict in Ukraine.

Bulgaria, relying almost entirely on Russian gas, resisted the European Commission’s call to halt work on the South Stream pipeline. The project by Russian state-owned OAO Gazprom will ship gas to western Europe via the Balkans, avoiding Ukraine.

“This is a priority infrastructure project and I hope the European Commission will find more solidarity in its future relations,” Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev said in a state radio interview this week. “The point is to avoid South Stream being used as a hostage of future relations and of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”
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