Energy infrastructure in the Baltic areas

By Aage Myhre, Editor-in-Chief

We described in yesterday's VilNews how the big powers France, Germany, Poland, and Russia now seem to be moving into a better climate of cooperation among themselves. We suggested in this context that Lithuania and the other Baltic States once again could become victims of the great powers' actions, and we recommended a much closer cooperation with the Nordic countries (Scandinavia) as the best and safest solution for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the future. See also articles below.

The Baltic countries should, in my opinion, cooperate closely on a common approach to Scandinavia, and they should do their utmost to become independent of gas, oil and electricity from Russia – as soon as possible.

Lithuania already pays 40% more for gas bought from Gazprom than what Germany pays for the same gas, and there is little doubt that Russia is doing everything possible to prevent the Baltic States from developing their own energy sources. Russia has already taken a number of worrisome, significant steps to maintain and enhance its energy monopoly here.

The Baltic States may soon be even more squeezed and caught in a trap if the Nordic countries and the EU do not do more to help in achieving a much higher degree of independence from Russian energy.

The aspect of altered safety and balance in this region could easily be the next step, and we think the Baltic States, the Nordic countries and EU should look very carefully into this situation.

Here are two of the comments we have received to our yesterday's issue of VilNews:

The true export of Russia is wholesale corruption, all-out cynicism

Aage, greetings. While in no way disputing the main thesis of your piece, I would like to supply a quick comment on its opening posit, concerning the "potential new alliance between France, Germany, Poland and Russia." Russia, I am afraid, is the odd man out in that suppositional constellation. It is, at present, a less than benign autocracy, and its economic model can only be described as unmitigated kleptocracy. 60-70% of its hard-currency revenue is due to oil and gas export, it is the world's third-largest international supplier of mineral resources, and so some of the more energy-dependent European countries, willy-nilly, exercise a cravenly "pragmatic" approach in their bilateral relations with Russia's ruling regime, agreeing to turn a blind eye even to some of its more blatant violations of human rights and economic freedoms. This is a country with no free elections, no freedom of press, no opposition figures ever allowed access to television; this is one of the most dangerous places on earth to be an independent journalist: the murder incidences among that category of people is very high indeed.

According to the Transparency International annual state-corruption ratings, Russia currently occupies the 154th spot out of the total of 178 on their: still ahead of Somalia, yet -- just as an example -- lagging behind Nigeria. And that's the true export of Russia, in the grand scheme of things: wholesale corruption, all-out cynicism. It is, in all, a shameful, thoroughly failed place, right now, I'm sad to say.