Anrdrew Rettman writes: Greece and Hungary have endorsed plans for a Russian gas pipeline in the latest blow to EU unity over the Ukraine crisis.
Their foreign ministers, Nikos Kotzias and Peter Szijjarto, and counterparts from Serbia, Macedonia, and Turkey added their names to a declaration on the “Turkish Stream” project in Budapest.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin last year in Ankara said he’ll build Turkish Stream, a pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey, after the EU blocked construction of South Stream, a pipeline under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary.
For its part, the European Commission blocked South Stream on grounds it violated EU anti-monopoly laws.
The Budapest communique underlines that it’s a statement of “political intent only, and that further exchange of views and dialogue is needed”.
The Turkish minister, Bozkir, told Hungarian media that “after the project’s feasibility studies are over, we’ll be able to give it a more qualitative estimate”.
The caveats come amid Turkish scepticism that Turkish Stream will be built because Russia lacks money and because its capacity exceeds the region’s requirements.
“Frankly, nobody in Turkey is taking it very seriously,” a Turkish source told EUobserver shortly after Putin unveiled Turkish Stream in Ankara last year.
“In the present climate, the Russians feel isolated. So they have the same reflex as the Iranians used to have – to announce some kind of new project with Turkey, and the whole idea is to show they still have international partners”.
The Budapest meeting represents a blow to EU unity over the Ukraine crisis despite the pipeline’s dim prospects.
Russia is courting Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, and Italy as potential veto-wielders on EU plans to extend economic sanctions before they expire in July.orts.
Nikolay Fyodorov, Russia’s agriculture minister, told Tass that Cyprus and Hungary might also get exemptions.
Tsipras told Russian media: “I think that the opportunity to strengthen our relationship is associated with tourism, as well as various cultural events”.
The Greek energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, said: “I have a feeling that the visit of Alexis Tsipras to Moscow and his meeting with Vladimir Putin may become an important milestone”.
“The new chapter in the development of Greek-Russian co-operation, which will also include the Russian gas pipeline on Greek territory, may bring drastic and very positive changes to the political environment and the image of our region and of Europe”.
