Ex-Communist EU states are again accusing Russia of using energy as a political weapon in the Ukraine gas crisis, despite European Commission efforts to paint the dispute as a purely commercial matter.
"It's big politics from 2004 [when Ukraine broke away from Russia's control in the Orange Revolution]," a senior Lithuanian official told EUobserver on Monday (5 January).
"Russia is saying: 'You have to become a vassal state, then you get what you want.' All the neighbouring states...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.