• English Site
• > Fishwrap

The World from Berlin

Oil Is Russia's Only Friend

Europeans are deeply unhappy about Russia's decision to close off a major crude oil pipeline. But there are some important lessons to be learned. First, the European Union needs energy alternatives. The second, say German commentators, is that Russia doesn't mind going it alone.

Europe was already concerned about its energy supplies before Russia shut down a major oil pipeline as the result of a gas dispute with Belarus. But the escalating trade row between Minsk and Moscow now has European Union leaders seriously concerned. And seriously unhappy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The tiff was triggered by Gazprom's decision to massively increase the price of natural gas delivered to Belarus and escalated when the two slapped oil levies on each other. Russia then accused Belarus of illegally siphoning oil from the Druzhba ("Friendship") pipeline, which is one of the main arteries supplying Europe with crude oil. Germany receives some 20 percent of its oil imports from the pipeline.

The crisis has yet to be resolved and German commentators on Wednesday are concerned about Europe's long-term energy supplies.

Right-leaning Die Welt writes:

"The gas and oil conflict between Russia and Belarus means the end of the Community of Independent States (CIS). For a decade, Moscow supplied the economies of the other former Soviet states with cheap natural resources in the hopes of eventually reintegrating them with Russia. Now that the Kremlin sees that even its closest ally -- Belarus -- doesn't want a reunification any more, it has decided to cut its artificial ties to its neighbor states."

"Russia's bullying in the post-Soviet region is a signal to the West that the country's priority is exclusively its own national interests. This has ramifications for Europe's energy security. It would be naïve for the German European Union presidency to believe that Moscow could be convinced to accept the EU Energy Charter Treaty and, for example, hand over its pipeline network to international control. The times are past when some in Europe saw Russia as a natural-resource-rich addendum to the West."

Center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung uses its opinion piece on Wednesday to call for a renewed focus on energy conservation:

"One may have good reasons to mistrust (President Vladimir) Putin's Russia, but the current fears are unfounded: Russia is not going to cut oil supplies to the West.

"Climbing oil prices, delivery problems for oil and gas, and growing competition for the remaining reserves reveal something much more basic. Industrialized countries have to resign themselves to the fact that their model for success is changing. Human development has always been paired with energy, and energy has seldom been limited."

"Germany should be thankful for the aggravation right at the beginning of its EU presidency. Berlin was correct to put energy policy and climate protection at the top of its agenda for its six-month term in office. These are two sides of the same coin. Europe can only make progress together. There are no alternatives to climate protection nor to improved energy conservation."

The Financial Times Deutschland focuses on the EU's packet of energy and climate proposals to be announced on Wednesday:

An ambitious blueprint for a European energy and climate policy "can only work if the office of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso doesn't shy away from conflict with powerful EU member states like Germany and France. Unfortunately, everything seems to indicate that Barroso … will give way to pressure coming from Berlin.

"Such a lack of courage damages the credibility of Europe's energy policies."

Finally, the left-leaning Berliner Zeitung tells readers not to overreact to Russia's having cut oil supplies and provides three lessons to be learned from the current mini-crisis. One is that Russia isn't super reliable. Three is that Germans should conserve energy."

"(And two:) Europe finally needs a common energy strategy. Today, the European Commission in Brussels will present its suggestions. It would be good were the member states to avoid tearing it apart. Europeans have to save and to push ahead with renewable energy sources. They also have to increase the numbers of their oil and gas suppliers."

-- Charles Hawley, 11:30 a.m. CET