Hillary Clinton Puts Energy Security High On Transatlantic Agenda

摘要

As EU anxiety over the security of its imported gas mounts in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine dispute, the next US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said this matter will be a priority in her dealings with Europe. "We need a broader framework to talk about energy security" with the EU and Russia, Clinton told US senators in Washington, on 13 January, at her confirmation hearing. She plans to have the issue discussed during her initial visits to Europe as secretary of state -both with EU foreign ministers and at the NATO summit, in April.rn"It is a significant security challenge that we ignore at our peril," she said, responding to concerns raised by Republican senators about the growing influence Russia is having on Europe due to its control of energy supplies. Clinton announced she would create an energy security coordinator within the State Department to work with Europe to try to make it less vulnerable to interrup-rntions in energy supply. Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused Europe of having mishandled the issue, saying "we are more worried about their energy problems than they are". He asked Clinton if she supported invoking Article 5 of the NATO Charter -which says an attack on one member is an attack on all - should countries cut off supplies. Clinton was non-committal, saying it "may or not be" the solution.