The crisis in Ukraine once again revived the fierce debate about Europe’s dependence on Russian energy resources. Similar to 2006 and 2009, when physical supply disruptions of natural gas took place, this crisis too will spur European integration. Arguably, though unintended, this makes Russian President Putin one of the most explicit enthusiasts of the European integration project of the last decade. On February 25, the European Commission published its plans to form an Energy Union. Among many other things, it aims to structurally diminish European dependence on Russia as a supplier of energy resources, which according to many Russia has …read more
Source: Brookings