Serbia Drifts Away from Russia, Commits to Decreasing Gas Reliance on Moscow
As widely anticipated, Serbia continues making headlines, with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić saying that Belgrade will take on board Washington’s proposal to decrease its energy reliance on Russia.
“Regarding energy safety, energy security, we are ready to diversify the sources of gas for Serbia, which is very important for our American friends as well,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Despite confirming Belgrade’s intention to maintain good ties with Moscow, his declaration marks a significant policy shift.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said that Athens and Sofia should sign the final investment decision for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria on June 12, adding that the construction should start by March 2016 and be completed in 2018.
Last month, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Serbian Heads of State launched the Craiova Group to increase cooperation in the energy sector.
The renewed focus on interconnectors stemming from the tensions between Russia and the European Union goes along with a LNG strategy to be unveiled by December.
“At Central Europe Energy Partners, we strongly advocate a holistic approach to that issue. We believe the key to the EU’s energy security is the North–South Corridor of pipelines and interconnectors bringing together, among others, the new and existing LNG terminals. This would integrate the still largely separate economies between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas, allowing gas and other resources to flow freely wherever needed” Paweł Olechnowicz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Central Europe Energy Partners, said on Thursday, after the first Europe–US LNG roundtable organised by his organisation.
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