Schröder, OMV Make Case for Stronger Ties With Russia; Poroshenko Goes to Brussels

While former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was saying that Russia is key for Europe’s energy security, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko met with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.  

Mogherini stressed that the anti-corruption reforms are key elements for the implementation of the “trade component of the Association Agreement and fulfilment of the plan of actions on the liberalisation of the visa-free regime.”  

Reading between the lines, Mogherini's speech indicates that the Association Agreement, which would enter into force on January 1, 2016, cannot be taken for granted. 

On Sunday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded that the Parliament had recently ‘refused to vote for laws that stipulate for real fight against corruption.’ 

“All member-countries of the European Union have passed the same path, Ukraine is following now. They were doing it 20 years ago. We should do this immediately” he said in a statement released on Monday. 

Ukrainian officials are also trying to understand what to do in order to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. 

“If Nord Stream-2 operates, Ukraine will be dead as a transit land for Russian gas” Andriy Kobolev, CEO of Ukrainian state gas firm Naftogaz, commented on Friday. 

On the other hand, OMV and Germany’s Schröder confirmed their support for the project. 

“I believe OMV’s strategy of engaging in Russia is correct – both in terms of the planned construction of the Nord Stream II pipeline as well as gas exploration in Siberia. This engagement is completely in the spirit of longstanding close Austro-Russian cooperation in the energy sector” Schröder, who is currently the chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG, said in a press release.