http://online.wsj.com/articles/bulgarian-lawmakers-reject-unified-stance-on-pipeline-1417633124
Bulgarian Lawmakers Reject Unified Stance on Pipeline
South Stream Project Divides Parliamentarians
Bulgarian lawmakers Wednesday split into two camps over Russia’s controversial South Stream natural-gas pipeline plan, throwing the stability of the young government into question.
Bulgaria’s parliament rejected a proposal of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to agree on a common position regarding gas infrastructure. Lawmakers also refused his government a sufficient mandate to gain access to classified contracts signed by the former government with Russia for the pipeline.
Mr. Borisov, who says South Stream could be built if it complied with European Union rules and made economic sense for Bulgaria, will meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz in Brussels Thursday to discuss energy policy and agree how best to proceed on South Stream, if at all.
Russia has cast Bulgaria as the stumbling block in its $40 billion plan to build a pipeline to Europe that goes around Ukraine.
Yet Mr. Borisov’s government and the EU say the fate of the project lies with Russia complying with European legislation that guarantees equal access to gas infrastructure to competing companies, something Moscow to date hasn’t been willing to do.
Bulgaria’s pro-Russian Socialist Party, nationalist group Ataka and ABV, a small left-leaning party of a former president, all said Mr. Borisov should fight for South Stream in order to protect what they call national interests.
Additionally, members of ABV, which last month pledged to support Mr. Borisov’s coalition government in key votes, said the party would have to re-evaluate its alignment with him should he not push for South Stream.
However, Mr. Borisov’s GERB party and the Reformist Bloc—the core of the coalition government—held firm, saying there is still no clarity on the future of the pipeline nor on its costs, benefits and risks to Bulgaria.
Mr. Borisov said Moscow still hasn’t given Sofia any formal indication whether the project, for which thousands of pipe sections are already stored in eastern Bulgaria, is truly canceled.
The parties in the government are calling for the EU and neighboring countries to accelerate preparation work on gas interconnectors rather than cave in on the South Stream issue.
Daniel Smilov, a political analyst at Sofia’s Center for Liberal Strategies, said that the fracture in parliament likely won’t jeopardize the government as ABV it is not a key partner in the coalition and because all parties know that South Stream’s fate lies in talks between Brussels and Moscow, and not in Sofia.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin said Bulgaria was not cooperating and so he wouldn’t allow the pipeline project to move forward if he didn’t have assurances from Sofia first. Instead, Mr. Putin said Russia would bolster shipments to Turkey and later would build a new pipeline there.
But the announcement has been met with skepticism. A person close to Bulgaria’s coalition government said Mr. Putin’s decision to halt the project caught senior Russian officials off guard and is likely his attempt to provoke a reaction in Bulgaria or in other countries and to gain support from leftist parties.
“If it works and the EU gives the project concessions, maybe he’ll reconsider it,” the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special envoy for international energy affairs, Wednesday in Brussels played down the likelihood that Russia would succeed in building a gas pipeline through Turkey as an alternative to the planned South Stream project.
“So far, what we’ve seen is one side announcing an intention to build … an alternative pipeline, and the other side has not said very much. Time will tell whether this was in fact an agreement or whether just an expression of interest of one side,” Mr. Hochstein said.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
—Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article.
Write to Sean Carney at sean.carney@wsj.com
Bulgaria’s parliament rejected a proposal of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to agree on a common position regarding gas infrastructure. Lawmakers also refused his government a sufficient mandate to gain access to classified contracts signed by the former government with Russia for the pipeline.
Mr. Borisov, who says South Stream could be built if it complied with European Union rules and made economic sense for Bulgaria, will meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz in Brussels Thursday to discuss energy policy and agree how best to proceed on South Stream, if at all.
Russia has cast Bulgaria as the stumbling block in its $40 billion plan to build a pipeline to Europe that goes around Ukraine.
Yet Mr. Borisov’s government and the EU say the fate of the project lies with Russia complying with European legislation that guarantees equal access to gas infrastructure to competing companies, something Moscow to date hasn’t been willing to do.
Bulgaria’s pro-Russian Socialist Party, nationalist group Ataka and ABV, a small left-leaning party of a former president, all said Mr. Borisov should fight for South Stream in order to protect what they call national interests.
Additionally, members of ABV, which last month pledged to support Mr. Borisov’s coalition government in key votes, said the party would have to re-evaluate its alignment with him should he not push for South Stream.
However, Mr. Borisov’s GERB party and the Reformist Bloc—the core of the coalition government—held firm, saying there is still no clarity on the future of the pipeline nor on its costs, benefits and risks to Bulgaria.
Mr. Borisov said Moscow still hasn’t given Sofia any formal indication whether the project, for which thousands of pipe sections are already stored in eastern Bulgaria, is truly canceled.
The parties in the government are calling for the EU and neighboring countries to accelerate preparation work on gas interconnectors rather than cave in on the South Stream issue.
Daniel Smilov, a political analyst at Sofia’s Center for Liberal Strategies, said that the fracture in parliament likely won’t jeopardize the government as ABV it is not a key partner in the coalition and because all parties know that South Stream’s fate lies in talks between Brussels and Moscow, and not in Sofia.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin said Bulgaria was not cooperating and so he wouldn’t allow the pipeline project to move forward if he didn’t have assurances from Sofia first. Instead, Mr. Putin said Russia would bolster shipments to Turkey and later would build a new pipeline there.
But the announcement has been met with skepticism. A person close to Bulgaria’s coalition government said Mr. Putin’s decision to halt the project caught senior Russian officials off guard and is likely his attempt to provoke a reaction in Bulgaria or in other countries and to gain support from leftist parties.
“If it works and the EU gives the project concessions, maybe he’ll reconsider it,” the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special envoy for international energy affairs, Wednesday in Brussels played down the likelihood that Russia would succeed in building a gas pipeline through Turkey as an alternative to the planned South Stream project.
“So far, what we’ve seen is one side announcing an intention to build … an alternative pipeline, and the other side has not said very much. Time will tell whether this was in fact an agreement or whether just an expression of interest of one side,” Mr. Hochstein said.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
—Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article.
Write to Sean Carney at sean.carney@wsj.com
