French report: EU should stop teaching Russia lessons and invite it to join Nabucco

The European Union should stop teaching Russia lessons and invite it to join the Nabucco project, a study set up by a former director of the International Energy Agency and submitted to the French PM Francois Fillon shows, AFP informs. The report comes as France is due to take up the Union’s Presidency on July 1.

The document suggests that EU should moderate its relationship with Russia and associate with it in the Nabucco project. The French are themselves excluded from Nabucco negotiations due to Turkish pressures.

Nabucco executive director Reinhard Mitschek declared in an interview for HotNews.ro that the parties involved would not exclude any source of gas thus implying that Russians could be a part of the project. At his turn, Gazprom deputy head Alexander Medvedev has declared for HotNews.ro that he would be interested in a collaboration.

Nabucco was conceived to offer Europe alternative gas sources from the Caspian Sea, independent of Russia as many European officials fear that their dependence of Russia might be harmful. Currently, 25% of the consumption gas in Europe comes from Russia.