Friday

29th Mar 2024

Opinion

Russia's energy weapon is backfiring

The recent energy dispute between Russia and Belarus has raised further worrying questions about Russia's reliability as an energy supplier and given fresh impetus to discussions about the need for the European Union to frame a common energy policy.

The alarm bells first rang a year ago following the Kremlin's heavy-handed decision to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine. This caused temporary gas shortages in parts of Western Europe and for the first time forced its citizens and politicians to consider the implications of Russia's willingness to use energy as a weapon.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

For Russia's neighbours, energy insecurity and threat of disruption of supplies as a means of exerting political or economic pressure is unfortunately nothing new. Russia has been using its energy weapon quite openly since the beginning of the 1990s. A recent study by Robert L. Larsson from the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) shows that there have been 35 similar supply interruptions in the last sixteen years. The countries mostly affected have been Lithuania, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

There are several reasons why Russia has been pushing hard on energy. First and foremost, the Kremlin sees energy dominance as a way of restoring Russia's international influence, which was largely lost by the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is encouraged in this belief by the fact that rapid growth of energy demand, together with increasing western energy dependency, has made gas and oil producing countries more visible and influential in world affairs.

The second reason is Russia's deep identity crisis, which borrows from the Soviet and Tsarist eras to create a model of national revival that is sharply at odds with liberal democratic norms. To a large extent, the revenues from energy export are being invested in structures of political management and control that are wholly at odds with widely recognised European values.

The same motive determines its approach in the "near abroad." The use of energy as a political pressure tool against Georgia and Ukraine must be understood primarily as a response to the Rose and the Orange revolutions. Members of Putin's administration openly oppose the efforts of Tbilisi and Kiev to create more open and democratic societies on the European model, seeing those changes as a direct threat to Russia's interests.

Russia's intention to use energy cut-offs for political gain might however be very short-sighted, especially if Germany, which currently holds the rotating, six-month presidency of the European Union, honours its commitment to put an end to an insecure situation for European energy consumers and genuinely tries to broker a deal among other EU countries to deal with Russia with a single voice.

Last month, the European Commission presented its latest EU Energy Policy Review. While any progress towards a common policy is very welcome, coming as it did in the midst of the dispute between Moscow and Minsk, the Commission's recommendations fail to give adequate consideration to the question of how Europe can guarantee external security of supply.

There are ambitious proposals on ownership unbundling and diversification of energy supply that, if implemented, will certainly help Europe to manage its resources more efficiently. The Commission has even gone so far as to acknowledge the importance of the Energy Charter Treaty, the main multilateral framework governing energy cooperation, which is as binding for Russia as it is for all other signatory countries. Is this enough to guarantee energy security and best value for the consumer? Certainly by now European leaders ought to have realised that Russia will not be a reliable partner unless it accepts it obligations under the Treaty and signs its Transit protocol.

It is time for the European leaders to face up to their responsibilities by developing an energy relationship with Russia based on fair and legally binding rules that respect normal commercial standards. To achieve this the EU's 27 member states need to replace their current preference for energy unilateralism with a new policy of energy solidarity. It is only by acting collectively that Europe can hope to deal with Moscow on even terms.

If the EU had the vision and political will to develop an energy strategy based on real reciprocity with Russia, then Moscow would begin to think twice before using energy as a form of blackmail. Instead it would come to understand that as a prospective WTO member it had more to gain by respecting the rules and providing energy on a normal commercial basis.

Marko Mihkelson is a member of the parliament of Estonia and rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe on the "Perils of using energy supply as an instrument of political pressure"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Column

EU's Gaza policy: boon for dictators, bad for democrats

While they woo dictators and autocrats, EU policymakers are becoming ever more estranged from the world's democrats. The real tragedy is the erosion of one of Europe's key assets: its huge reserves of soft power, writes Shada Islam.

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Column

EU's Gaza policy: boon for dictators, bad for democrats

While they woo dictators and autocrats, EU policymakers are becoming ever more estranged from the world's democrats. The real tragedy is the erosion of one of Europe's key assets: its huge reserves of soft power, writes Shada Islam.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us