Putin wins the hearths and minds of Europe - by Tony Halpin
Vladimir Putin is entitled to take immense satisfaction from 2006. The year opened with Russia cast as the great gas ogre, embroiled in a bruising “cold war” over supplies to Ukraine that also threatened to dim the lights from Poznan to Paris.
As 2006 closes, the state monopoly Gazprom has become the energy giant that ate Europe, extending the Kremlin’s influence from the corridors of power to the kitchens of consumers. Add in his success in forcing Shell to hand control to Gazprom of Sakhalin-2, the world’s largest private oil and gas project, and Mr Putin can reflect on a year well spent.
Europe may be forced into uncomfortable compromises with the Kremlin on democratic reform and human rights by too close an embrace of the Russian bear over energy. Russia argues that what’s good for Gazprom will be good for Europe by ensuring stability of supplies in an unpredictable world.
Nervousness over the future in gas-rich Turkmenistan after the death last week of “Turkmenbashi”, the eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, illustrates how dependent Europe now is on far-away places to keep the lights burning at home. The gamble across the continent is that Russian gas will prove the safest bet for Europe’s energy security, and not a political weapon with which to extract concessions.
No comments:
Post a Comment