Caspian Energy (CE): Your Excellency, crises and challenges have surrounded the EU almost “from all sides” (Syria, Russia, Greece, Brexit). Do you have a recipe for the EU’s survival and how is it possible to strengthen the energy security and economic competitiveness of the Eurozone?
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia: The European Union is facing many challenges, among which I consider the sustainability of Europe's energy development to be one the most important. How to overcome dependence on foreign supply? How to ensure diversification of sources? How to ensure security of supply? These are political, economic and strategic issues. They need to be jointly and systematically thought through and strategically defined and planned in the long term.
Geopolitical tensions related to the conflict in Ukraine (indirectly also the developments in the Middle East) have confirmed the need for strengthening energy security in Europe. My starting point here is that energy should, and can, enable a stable and faster development, with the goal of ensuring a higher quality of life for all our citizens. The European Union has done a lot in this regard, especially concerning the strengthening of energy security in gas supply, with the view of reducing the number of Member States that depend exclusively on one supplier.
Nevertheless, despite all these achievements in the strengthening of its infrastructure and diversification of suppliers, the Union remains vulnerable to external shocks. Some Member States are more vulnerable than others, and this is especially true for less integrated and connected regions, such as the Baltic and Eastern Europe. In some Member States, as a result of the new geopolitical situation primarily conditioned by the armed conflict in Ukraine, the issue of energy security has especially gained prominence. It has also turned the attention to the need for construction of energy infrastructure and new supply routes in order to achieve the reversibility of gas interconnection, as well as to the need of focusing on reserve options that would, in crisis situations, take over part of the supply capacities of this source of energy.
Within the context of the events in Ukraine, which undoubtedly have a wider regional dimension and influence economic and energy trends, the Republic of Croatia has been actively involved in the elaboration of projects that aim at diversifying energy sources. Croatia is planning to construct a floating LNG terminal on the island of Krk, as well as the Ionian-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (IAP). These are our priority projects that, as such, are on the European list of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs).
When it comes to Ukraine, we give strong support to Ukrainian efforts to diversify gas supply and integrate into the European energy market. When it comes to Russia, energy relations with the Russian Federation must be based on reciprocity, transparency, non-discrimination and competitiveness.
The key to improving energy security, and thus the security and competitiveness of our economies and the entire European Union, lies in our closer cooperation. This especially refers to areas where the integration of markets contributes to energy security. We should not allow ourselves to lag behind in the development of competitive and well integrated markets, or deprive ourselves of the benefits brought by the security of supply. Therefore, I believe that we have to make energy flows possible, advocate full integration of our markets, support mutual interconnections and projects in the energy sector.
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