Bulgarian PM Boyko Borysov accused by the right opposition of secret negotiations with russian President, Vladimir Putin. Croatian Head of State Ivo Josipovic regrets the Southstream will not transit via Croatia.
In Bulgaria and Croatia, the Russian Southstream pipeline's construction in Europe caused an intensive debate.
As reported by the Bulgarian news agency Novinite, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borysov has been accused by the right-wing opposition leader Ivan Kostov of secret negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Southstream construction in Bulgaria.
Kostov, who used to serve as PM before Borysov, asked the Head of Government to answer to several questions about contractual clauses between Sofia and Moscow, and about the real Southstream gas carrying capacity.
As a response, the PM spokesman Dian Chervenkodyev denied any secret negotiation between Borysov and Putin.
Bulgarian PM Boyko Borysov, a moderate politician who strongly support the European Commission energetic policy about the gas supplies's diversification from Russia's quasi monopoly, started several projects in order to connect Bulgarian pipelines to the national gas transport system of Turkey, Romania, Serbia and Greece.
Moreover, Borysov invited the European Commission to build in Bulgaria the first part of Nabucco pipeline: the most important infrastructure planed to carry 16 bcd per year of Azeri gas directly to Europe via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
In Croatia, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic declared he's concerned after Gazprom national Russian gas major preferred to build the Southstream in Hungary, instead of Croatia.
In and interview on THN national TV, Josipovic accused Croatian businessmen of lack of confidence on Russian investors, and expressed the will to participate in the Russian pipeline's construction in Europe.
On wednesday the 10/31, Gazprom vice-President Alexandr Medvedev and Hungarian PM Victor Orban signed an official agreement about the Southstream's realization in Hungary.
Orban's choice led Hungary in a uncomfortable geopolitical situation. Less month before, Hungarian PM expressed Budapest's political support also for the Nabucco pipeline, which is an alternative project to the Southstram pipeline.
The Southstream pipeline is planed to carry Russian gas directly in Southern-Western Europe from Russia via the Black Sea seabed to the Bulgarian port of Varna.
From Bulgaria, a Southern part of the Southstream will reach Greece and Italy. A Northern section will go on to FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy.
The Southstream pipeline's realization makes impossible the realization of European Commission gas supplies's diversification plan, and endangers European energetic security.
For this reason, the Southstream - which is supported by German and French national government, and also by the most important western European energetic concerns as the Italian ENI, the German Winthershall, and the French EDF - is strongly criticized by the European Commission.
Matteo Cazzulani
