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RUSSIA-UKRAINE GAS CONFLICT AND THE EU’S STAND
ALEKSANDR RAHR,
Director of Russia, Ukraine/CIS programs, German Council on Foreign Policy, Coordinator of the EU-Russia Forum, Germany
Russia-Ukraine gas conflict has led to reinforcement of the EU's activities in the post-Soviet area.
The European Union actually intervened into the conflict settlement and became a member of the game. Mirek Topolanek, prime minister of Czech Republic – the country that has been presiding over the European Union since January, paid an extraordinary visit to Kyiv and Moscow. It resulted in signing an agreement on setting up an independent control over transition of the Russian gas through Ukraine’s territory.
This agreement will be considered as historical one, as well as the Medvedev-Sarkozy Plan for settlement of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, signed half a year ago.
The signed document enables the European Union to influence the matters, which are of strategic importance to Europe. It is also equitable to the interest of Ukraine. Kyiv has long been trying to draw the EU in its gas dispute with Russia.
But Ukraine is wrong thinking that the more it quarrels with Russia the more it is welcomed in the EU. Meanwhile, Moscow, disputing with Kyiv, tries to depict Ukraine as an unreliable partner.
The EU treats the situation rather selfishly and is getting annoyed by blocking gas supplies and Russia-Ukraine confrontation. I believe that in the nearest months the issue on how to lower EU’s dependence on the Russian gas supplies will be brought up for discussion in the European Union.
One the other hand, there come additional arguments in favour of the North Stream pipeline construction, due to which Germany can become responsible for distribution of the Russian gas among the European countries. Therefore, by now it is hard to predict which aspects predominate – negative or positive ones.
Presently, on the whole, the European mass media cover the Russia-Ukraine gas conflict negatively.
January 14, 2009
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