Onus on EU after Moscow drops South Stream plan
Kristalina Georgieva, the European budget commissioner, said on Tuesday the European Union would speed up work to help provide more energy security for Southeastern Europe, including by financing gas connectors between Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, after Russia on Monday announced it was dropping the South Stream project.
The pipeline would have transported Russian gas under the Black Sea, making landfall in Bulgaria and then passing through Serbia and Hungary into Austria.
It fell victim to stalling European demand for gas and plunging energy prices, but also to opposition from the European Commission, which forced Bulgaria to put construction on hold amid confrontation with Russia over Ukraine.
[Reuters]
