SOFIA, Bulgaria
Achieving better energy connectivity should be the key priority in EU energy policy towards Southeastern European countries, said the president of Bulgaria on Monday.
Rosen Plevneliev stressed in a press release that in the field of energy, the EU had to speak with one voice.
"Achieving better energy connectivity should be the key priority in EU energy policy. Energy resources should not be used as weapons but as a commodity that is traded freely in the common European market. Integration is our weapon in the area of energy," he said.
"We should combine our efforts to create a regional gas market," he noted.
Representatives of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Slovenia as well as the European Commission vice-president for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, and Commissioner for Climate and Energy Miguel Arias Canete met in Sofia for a conference to discuss gas infrastructure priorities for Central and Southeastern Europe.
High-level working group to diversify suppliers
Central and Southeastern European countries established a high-level working group to diversify their natural gas suppliers at the conference.
In total, 14 different projects are to be discussed with regards to supply diversification.
"Each country from this region should have at least three different natural gas suppliers," said Maros Sefcovic.
"The South Stream natural gas corridor should be upgraded and Europe should be connected to it for the energy independence of the region," said the EU commissioner for climate and energy.
Canete added that liquefied natural gas terminals should be built near the Black Sea.
"Having natural gas connections with our neighbors, such as Greece, Romania, Turkey and Serbia is our priority," said Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria's prime minister.
In December 2014, Russia scrapped the South Stream project, which aimed to carry gas under the western Black Sea to Bulgaria and farther into other European countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a new gas pipeline route via the Black Sea to reach Turkey's northwestern Thrace region, dubbed the "Turkish Stream," which would also involve the construction of a gas hub at the Turkish-Greek border.
Bulgaria also put forth its own proposal for a gas hub near Varna, on the Black Sea, where the South Stream's route was planned to pass. The EU has yet to respond to the proposal.
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