Abstract
The strategic challenge of the dependence of Central European countries in terms of hydrocarbon import, specifically natural gas, has not been resolved in the past 25 years. Despite repeated calls for joint action – developing common policies, designing joint frameworks, supporting the launch of major European energy infrastructure projects together – 25 years after the change of regime period the region still stands vulnerable to Russian economic penetration and political influence stemming from our large-scale dependence on Russian gas import. The paper investigates the roots and causes of this deficiency in order to answer the question: “Why and how can Russia still ‘Divide and Rule’ Central-Eastern Europe in energy policy?” Since we have witnessed the failure of the Nabucco and Southern Stream pipeline projects in recent years, facing the current challenges of the Ukraine crisis, making transit unpredictable, and perceiving a certain dissent among the Visegrád Four (V4) in this regard, the paper is to identify the particular interests and negotiation techniques of the parties in order to explain the reasons of failure.
Highlights
The European Union is one of the biggest energy consumers in the world, but despite its growing consumption, the territory of most EU member states is generally poor in hydrocar- bon resources, making it one of the biggest energy importers of the world
I focus on a particular grouping within the EU, the Visegrád coun- tries in Central Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia as they are primary consumers of Russian energy resources
The Czech Republic, as other Central European countries as well imports a significant amount of natural gas from Russia and Central Asia via pipelines running through Ukraine and Slovakia
Summary
The European Union is one of the biggest energy consumers in the world, but despite its growing consumption, the territory of most EU member states is generally poor in hydrocar- bon resources, making it one of the biggest energy importers of the world. Regarding its geo-economic position, the European Union greatly suffers from the lack of energy resources, hydrocarbons, such as crude oil and natural gas. As the European Union was enlarged and 10 new members joined in 2004, including all Visegrád countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), they were soon fol- lowed by Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and Croatia in 2013, and their consumption patterns have influenced EU energy policies. In 1964, the oil pipeline “Dhruzba” (Friendship) was constructed, bringing crude oil to the Soviet satellite countries This pipe- line has provided oil from Russian resources to Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany as well, and Dhruzba plays an important role even today. 4 8.099 trillion cubic meter; 286 trillion cubic feet 5 4.81 trillion cubic meter; 170 trillion cubic feet
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