It looks like Brussels is finally awakening to the strategic disadvantages of its heavy reliance on Russian energy supplies—specifically, its imports of natural gas from state-owned Gazprom. Of particular concern in recent years has been Gazprom’s ability to divide and conquer the bloc by selling its gas to different countries at different prices, making these contracts into a geopolitical lever. And, of course, the EU is concerned about the precedent Gazprom set in the winters of 2006 and 2009, when it cut off supplies to Ukraine over pricing disputes—a move that had knock-on effects on Ukraine’s neighbors.Now, as AFP reports, …read more
Source: The American Interest
