South and Nord Stream pipelines, which aim to bring natural gas to Europe from Russia, pose a threat to the planned Nabucco pipeline due to deliver gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe via Turkey, the Czech prime minister said Tuesday.
"The South and Nord Stream pipelines are a direct threat to the Nabucco project as Europe's (new) gas sources could be lost," Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the European Union presidency, said, adding that the E.U. should back the Nabucco pipeline project with all its might.
Recently interrupted Russian gas supplies via Ukraine to the E.U. due to a pricing row between Moscow and Kiev have raised the importance of other pipelines, such as Nabucco, which would bypass both Russia and Ukraine.
The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline, named after the opera by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, would connect Turkey with Austria, bringing gas from central Asia.
"Are we not alarmed that the Ukrainian control (of the current transit route) ultimately strengthens the monopoly of the Russian government?" Topolanek said, hinting that Ukraine was to blame for the halted gas deliveries during the coldest January in recent years.
The Nabucco project, which was conceived in 2002, has seen little progress because of issues of financing and political commitment from the countries involved.
This may change after most of 27 E.U. countries were forced to tap into their reserves before the Russian gas supplies via Ukraine were resumed late last week.
Slovakia and Bulgaria were even forced to ration the gas use by their companies and heating at many Bulgarian households was turned off temporarily.
"Let's make Nabucco from a project into a process," Topolanek said.
"The E.U. must speak with one voice...freedom and independence is at stake," Topolanek added.
Topolanek noted that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin confirmed during talks in January that Russia isn't opposed to the Nabucco project.