Romania’s President Basescu: EU should reduce its dependence on Russian energy (Jan 21, 2007)

Jan 21, 2007 (Financial Times)

The European Union must reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas by cutting energy consumption and developing alternative sources of supply, says Traian Basescu, the Romanian president, in an interview with ‘Financial Times’ on Jan. 19.

As in December Romania’s ‘Supreme Council for Homeland Security’ discussed the country’s energy sector security and following the recent Russian oil supplies cutoff to EU, Mr Basescu told ‘Financial Times’ that he urges the EU to take action to make itself less vulnerable to Russian political pressure or to events such as Moscow’s decision to cut gas supplies last year in a dispute with Ukraine and its move to interrupt oil shipments this year in a row with Belarus.

Mr Basescu said to ‘Financial Times’: “In the long run having a single energy supplier is against the European concept of market economy. We have to have competition. Even if this requires expensive investment we need to create conditions for competition because it is not only increasing competition but creating freedom for our decisions.”

Obviously, the Romanian President expressed strong support for the planned Nabucco pipeline for bringing gas from the Caspian Sea to central Europe via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. He also called for a joint energy policy. “When a European country is in trouble all countries in the EU will be in a difficult position as well. For this reason we promote very much the idea having a single energy policy.” Mr. Basescu is right as one should keep in mind the pressure that Russia puts with the ‘Shtokman’, ‘Blue Stream’ or South Caspian energy projects.

Mr Basescu, an outspoken politician, he rarely pulled his punches, although he declined to repeat recent remarks where he compared Gazprom with the Red Army. “Let’s forget that in this interview,” he said with a smile to ‘Financial Times’ reporters.

He rejected fears, voiced in Brussels, that Bucharest might now relax in its drive to complete reforms, including moves to fight corruption. “In Romania, politicians in power realise that we have only finished one stage and we have another stage that is sometimes more difficult. I assure you that both I and the government are determined to continue the process of modernising Romania.”

However, President Basescu, who is facing both a last minute impeachment threat from the Social-democrats in opposition and harsh attacks from his Liberal ruling allies, is yet to prove that the statement above will still hold in the months to come.

Therefore, President Basescu also provided ‘Financial Times’ with a short account to suggestions the country would be hampered by the persistent tensions between himself and Calin Tariceanu, the prime minister, and their respective parties, which form the governing coalition. However, he said it was his duty to make discontent public and he repeated previous calls for early parliamentary elections – polls in which he calculates his Democrat party could make gains.

Mr Basescu commented on the latest conflict with the prime minister, in which the president has disclosed a letter from Mr Tariceanu asking him to talk to the prosecutors about the case of Dinu Patriciu, a leading oil sector businessman under investigation for alleged tax fraud and stock market manipulation, and a close ally of the prime minister. (Mr. Basescu did not mention that, in Romania, there exist worries regarding Patriciu’s supposed intricate ties with Russian energy milieus).

Mr Tariceanu has been accused of trying to interfere in the course of justice on behalf of Mr Patriciu. Mr Basescu said in the interview that the letter had not been “a very inspired one” but avoided criticising the prime minister more strongly.

Mr Basescu responded to claims voiced in Brussels that its EU accession had brought a big force of right-wing politicians into European politics, with the nationalist ‘Greater Romania’ party taking up its seats in the European parliament. Romania’s President said extremist parties were no stronger in Romania than elsewhere in the EU and had lost a great deal of their popular support in the past five years because of economic progress and rising living standards.



‘Financial Times’ material commented by Romania Report