European Union Signs a Pact on a Pipeline for Gas From the Caspian Sea

Dan Bilefsky

The New York Times

May 9

The European Union signed an energy agreement on Friday aimed at speeding up the construction of a long-delayed pipeline that would bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe and help offset the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy.

The agreement, signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Egypt at a summit meeting in Prague, centers on the 2,000-mile Nabucco pipeline, which would bring Central Asian gas to Europe without passing through Russian territory. The European Union hopes the pipeline will start pumping gas to Europe by 2014. The pressing need to find an alternative to Russian supply was underlined in January when a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine resulted in a shortage of gas supplies in several European countries.

Turkey, whose cooperation is essential for the pipeline, has haggled for months over transit rules. It indicated on Friday that it was prepared to sign a transit deal by June. But Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, also made it clear that his acquiescence would depend on some progress in Turkey’s talks on membership in the European Union, which have stalled in recent months.

Diplomats said representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan refused to sign the agreement because of pressure from Russia, which supplies one-fifth of Europe’s gas. The Kremlin views the Nabucco pipeline as a potential geopolitical challenge, and it has sought to frustrate its developers at every turn. But the recent decline in energy prices has weakened its influence with the gas producers, creating more of an opening for the West.

Nabucco would supply up to 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually — about 5 percent of the European Union’s gas needs.

Kyrgyzstan's Decision to Close US Base 'Final'

Voice of America

U.S. soldiers open the gates of a military base, which is located within Manas civilian airport, near Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek, 04 Feb 2009

Kyrgyzstan says its decision to shut down a U.S. military base is "final."

That word from a Kyrgyz government spokesman on Friday contradicts earlier statements from both Kyrgyzstan and the United States that discussions about the base are continuing.

A U.S. State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid, reiterated that there has been no official notification from Kyrgyzstan on the status of the base. He said Friday that normal operations continue at the base, along with talks with Kyrgyz authorities on the U.S. presence.

The Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan plays a major logistical role in supplying U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced plans to shut the base on Tuesday in Moscow, shortly after securing $2 billion in loans and aid from Russia.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country will allow the United States to cross Russian territory to deliver non-military supplies to Afghanistan.

Tajkistan is also offering help. The U.S. ambassador in Dushanbe, Tracey Ann Jacobson, says the Tajik president is ready to allow transport of non-military supplies to Afghanistan through his territory.

Diplomatic and defense sources say the United States is considering a military deal with Uzbekistan to establish an alternate supply route for NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Most U.S. and NATO shipments into Afghanistan have been arriving by road through Pakistan, but those convoys have increasingly come under attack from Taliban and al-Qaida militants in recent months.

The Kyrgyzstan base issue flared as the Obama administration continued a policy review on the Afghanistan conflict that is widely expected to include a big increase in U.S. troop strength there.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that denial of access to Manas would be regrettable but would not affect U.S. Afghan strategy.

See also:

Jamestown Foundation - Kazahstan Rising its Afghanistan Profile

The Wall Street Journal - The aide for Afghanistan, addressed at the Munich Conference