The Yamal-Europe pipeline through Belarus to Poland was soon closed. Two more feeding Germany, Nord Stream and Nord Stream II, were destroyed by saboteurs under still-murky circumstances later that year. All that remained was a pipeline called Druzhba, Russian for “friendship,” running through, of all places, Ukraine—a legacy of a less divided Europe that no longer exists.
On the morning of January 1, Russia pumped its last cubic meters of natural gas directly into Europe, ending decades of trade that had benefited all parties and warmed homes during some of the darkest winters of the war. Cold and into the 21st century After Moscow disrupted the flow to Europe in response to Western sanctions in 2022, European economies scrambled to reduce their dependence on Russian gas amid fears that had traded cheap energy at the expense of security.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline through Belarus to Poland was soon closed. Two more feeding Germany, Nord Stream and Nord Stream II, were destroyed by saboteurs under still-murky circumstances later that year. All that remained was a pipeline called Druzhba, Russian for “friendship,” running through, of all places, Ukraine—a legacy of a less divided Europe that no longer exists.
GAS CRISIS
For now, the crisis is focused on a Region called Transnistria, located on the eastern edge of the former Soviet republic of Moldova. It is a sliver of territory with a population of about 360.000 on the border with Ukraine that declared independence with the breakup of the USSR. Since then, it has been under Russian protection, including by Russian peacekeepers. After Russian state energy company Gazprom stopped exporting gas to Transnistria on January 1, following the expiration of a gas transit agreement through neighboring Ukraine, thousands of people in the breakaway Region of Moldova faced problems with hot water supply and heating.
However, the authorities of Transnistria, or Transnistria, continue to reject alternative gas supply routes, writes Politico. “The Moldovan government has already offered energy and humanitarian aid to Transnistria, which has not been accepted so far,” said Anitta Hipper, spokeswoman for the European Commission for Foreign Affairs.
TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS
But the pro-Kremlin leadership of that unknown state, based in the city of Tiraspol, rejected all Moldovan offers for gas supplies from the European market, as well as offers for humanitarian aid. “We encourage Tiraspol to cooperate with Chisinau to resolve the situation in the interest of the local population,” Hipper said. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean accused Moscow of fueling the ongoing crisis “This is a security crisis that Russia is trying to cause in the Region by using energy as a weapon,” he said.
“They stopped the gas supply to the Region they control and illegally stationed military troops there and don’t allow anyone to help the Region,” Recean said. According to Prime Minister Recean, the crisis could eventually lead to the end of Transnistria’s self-proclaimed independence. Anatolii Dirun, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Tiraspol, said the Transnistrian authorities are deliberately delaying, hoping Moscow will find a solution. “Everything could have been finished within a week or two, but the authorities now prefer to wait a few weeks for Russia to intervene and resolve the matter.”
THE THREAT OF SLOVAKIA
Slovakia, on the other hand, is considering measures against Ukraine, including cutting off aid, if a solution is not found to stop Russian gas deliveries through Ukrainian territory, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday after talks with European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen. Fico accused Kiev of harming Slovakia by not extending the gas transit contract with Russia. Earlier he threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine and on Thursday said Bratislava could add to that by suspending humanitarian aid or using a veto when making decisions about Ukraine within the European Union.
