Transatlantic Politics

Wake up, Europe! 

Europe should care about the Russian invasion of Georgia if for no other reason than to protect its own interest in reducing energy dependency on Russia. Europe doesn’t care that Georgia is a NATO ally nor that it maintains the 3rd largest contingent in Iraq.  That’s well known (and sad). 

So at least be selfish, Europe!   Guard your vital oil and gas pipelines that cross through Georgian territory (and bypass Russia) which are endangered by the Russian bombings…or risk becoming even more beholden to the Russian Bear.

Ed Lucas, author of The New Cold War, writes in the The Times:

But on top of that is a vital Western interest. The biggest threat Russia poses to Europe is the Kremlin’s monopoly on energy export routes to the West from the former Soviet Union. The one breach in that is the oil and gas pipeline that leads from energy-rich Azerbaijan to Turkey, across Georgia. If Georgia falls, Europe’s hopes of energy independence from Russia fall too.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry reported that Russian aircrafts have completely destroyed the harbor of Poti, in the immediate vecinity of Supsa, a vital oil terminal.

Supsa is vital for Europe, especially since the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (the only alternative route to Russian-controlled oil and gas pipelines) has been disrupted on August 6 in Turkey by the Kurdish militia PKK. Since then, oil transports have been rerouted from Tbilisi to Supsa.

If Europe is serious about its efforts to reduce its energy dependency on Russia, it should better protect its only existing alternative pipelines which transit Georgia.

Update:

The Azeri oil company SOCAR announced it has halted exports from 2 Georgian ports - Batumi (close to Supsa) and Kulevi, a brand new oil terminal inaugurated in May and very close to Poti, the harbor leveled by Russian planes. Now SOCAR is considering rerouting all its oil exports via the Russian pipeline to Novorosiisk, although the capacity of this pipeline is about 10 times smaller than the Baku-Tbillisi-Ceyhan pipeline. So much for the oil exports to Europe, via Georgia and Turkey. Not to mention the grim perspectives for the gas exports that Europe was hoping to get from gas-rich Azerbaidjan and Turkmenistan via Georgia and Turkey.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!