New Russian Imperialists Wield Energy Weapon

New Russian Imperialists Wield Energy Weapon 18 July 2008: Russian imperialism is back. From the Baltic to the Black Sea, from Central Asia to Southeastern Europe, President Vladimir Putin is probing weak points, seeking to expand influence and enlarge smaller states' dependency on Russian energy supplies. Nowhere is this more evident and successful than in the Balkans. With NATO and the European Union now including Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria, and the accession of Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania soon plausible, the door for Moscow's assertiveness would seem to be closed. Such complacency, however, is dangerously naïve. In their relations with Ukraine, Georgia and other countries inside the former Soviet Union, interruptions of oil and gas deliveries already have been Moscow's aggressive tools. Farther west, Russia has gained, in the last few months, firm control of Serbia's energy supply, expanded its dominance of direct foreign investment in Montenegro, and, when Putin visited Sofia in January, finalized humiliating accords with Bulgaria that ensures Russia's energy stranglehold on my country. These 2008 Russo-Bulgarian energy deals - the South Stream pipeline allowing Russia to send natural gas directly to Europe via Bulgaria, and a contract to Russia for the building of a new nuclear power plant near the city of Belene on the Danube - come on the heels of an accord, concluded last year among Moscow, Athens and Sofia, for the construction of an oil pipeline from Russia via Bulgaria to Greece. Even before these deals were struck, Russia met 100 percent of Bulgaria's needs for natural gas, crude oil and nuclear fuel, while Lukoil owns the largest oil refinery in Bulgaria and Russian companies have begun to acquire parts of the country's energy distribution network. Such projects have created a single-energy "Bermuda Triangle," which will sink any attempts to achieve energy independence from Russia and undermine alternatives presented by other concepts, including Nabucco, supported by the European Union and the United States. This was not Bulgaria's mistake alone. The EU talks about a single energy policy, but it has done nothing substantive. EU energy markets remain heavily protected by individual member states, all of which seem to have no problem making separate energy deals with Moscow, often at the expense of fellow member-states' interests. Absent EU solidarity, Moscow generates very favorable contracts with Germany, Italy, Hungary and now Bulgaria. Unless the EU formulates a robust and credible energy policy, it is highly unlikely that individual countries will stand up on their own to Moscow's single-minded energy assault and defend elusive European energy objectives. Yet, Bulgarian political leaders must share the blame. The ruling coalition in Sofia, dominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has opened the door to Russia's long-term presence in Bulgaria, while ignoring the Kremlin's appalling record on human rights and democracy, murders of opponents, and exclusion of political and economic competition. Their servile reaction to Putin's visit to Sofia increased Europe's future energy dependence on Russia and leads one to ask whether the BSP first defends the interests of Bulgaria and the EU or those of its ideological allies in the Kremlin. Beyond the Bulgarian case are issues critical to the future of democratic systems. If states had only economic interests, normative considerations would be absent from international relations and a vicious realism would prevail in global affairs. For Central and East Europeans, the appeal of European democracy rested on its commitments to individual freedoms and human rights. EU members undermine their moral authority every time they seem to look the other way for the sake of Russian energy deliveries. Further, weak democracies - and Bulgaria is still such a system - invite long-term challenges to democratic maturation by allowing an economically powerful but politically authoritarian foreign power to establish an important presence in their countries. Already, Russia tries to affect the course of political processes in Bulgaria via manipulations of energy pricing, diplomatic support and other measures to ensure an amiable government in Sofia. Russia is not Europe's friend. It is trying to destabilize conditions by meddling in the Kosovo issue, playing devious games in the Caucasus and rattling sabers regarding America's defensive missile deployments. More ominous, however, is the insidious methodology of energy. As oil and gas prices have soared, and nations have desperately sought to assure supplies and alternative sources, Putin's Russia has returned to old imperial habits, not with armies but pipelines. Bulgaria and the Europe it so fervently sought to join have erred by being too afraid, too pliant and too willing to set principles aside for economic interests. Plamen Youroukov is chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces Sofia, Bulgaria.