This article was in The German Welt today
This the Computer translation of the article from german into english, In essences FO Hungarian play is a European Play.
If Russia closes the gas flow
On Thursday the European Union Russia summit in Sotschi meets. Thereby above all a concern drives the Europeans over: How surely of Europe actually is power supply?
by Miriam Hollstein and Jens Hartmann
Here gas is through-led
Photo: AP
Vladimir Putin particularly estimates the Russian holidays place Sotschi. Ever more frequently it pulls to the Russian presidents with its yard state, which consists of hundreds of officials and entrepreneurs, away from the Muscovite Kremlin into the subtropical oasis on the black sea. There Putin in its mansion resides or takes a sun bath on the deck of its state yacht. Combat float of the Russian navy latch plates then the coastal strips off.
With the guests, whom Putin receives on Thursday, hardly holiday mood will arise - and the arising heat rather the discussions as the outside temperatures will be owed. EU-commission president José Manuel Barroso, European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana and the acting advice chairman of the European Union, Austrian chancellor Wolfgang dish, travel after Sotschi, in order to discuss above all two things: How does it continue to go with the partnership between Russia and the European Union - and of Europe how safe is power supply?
Because the relations - officially into a partnership agreement calm, which runs out 2007 - is strained. The Europeans sits still the ghost of the Ukraine in the neck. There the power supply broke down in the past winter, after main supplier Russia the gas price had verfünffacht quasi over night, in order to make the aufmüpfige government in Kiew gefügig. Also in Western Europe first bottlenecks threatened. Sworn to the danger of a new “cold war” alarms media and analysts.
Of Europe concern results from his dependence: While Russia gebärdet itself ever more than energy power, the European union is ever more strongly dependent on Russian energy imported goods. Already a quarter of all gas imported goods as well as a quarter of all oil imported goods of the European Union originate from Russia. This dependence will continue to grow, above all because European Union-own resources are exhausted like the crude oil and gas occurrences in the North Sea in twenty to thirty years. Already in November 2000 the European Union commission in its green book warned for power supply security, the union in the year 2030 with the oil consumption to 90 per cent on imported goods from other countries will be dependent - at present there is already 76 per cent. Also the dependence on gas imported goods will rise in the future to altogether 80 per cent. Far more than half of the gas would come then presumably from Russia.
A Russian warranty alone is not sufficient there. The European Union therefore strives around what experts demand already longer: a new energy policy, which would on a long-term basis reduce also the dependence on Russia. “Energy was seen in the European Union to for a long time as something, which regulates itself, criticizes over free-market economy” franc Umbach, author of the book “global energy security”. “With it energy is in particular for Russia and China a strategic property.” The risks of dependence during the power supply would have to be distributed therefore better, so Umbach. But there are different ways: On the one hand the European Union the number of the countries, from which it imports energy, must increases. So far these are with the oil above all Russia and the Near East, with the gas beside Russia Algeria and Norway. In addition, from Africa, Latin America or central Asia a part of the necessary oil and gas could be referred. The problem: Who imports the oil of a region, imports also its problems.