EU Observer: Putin's pipeline drives wedge between EU and Balkan hopefuls
Macedonia has become the latest Western Balkan country to receive a stark warning on the implications of building Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline for its EU future.
Janez Kopac, the head of the European Energy Community (EEC), said on Thursday (23 October) that Skopje’s South Stream agreement with Moscow is “not in compliance” with EU energy law.
He noted that as an EEC treaty signatory it has “a legally binding commitment to implement these rules”.
He added, in comments to the Brussels-based dtt-net.com news agency, that “Macedonia will have to withdraw from the IGA [the South Stream accord] or renegotiate it if it wants to become a full EU member”.