Turkmenistan, Bulgaria Challenges To Russia

摘要

Two recent intergovernmental conferences, in Bulgaria and in Turkmenistan, have touched on ways to get Caspian gas to Europe. Both emphasized the need for diversification and, to some extent, both can be viewed as snubs to Russia: The Sofia summit stressed the need to diversify import sources and routes for gas into Europe, while Ashkhabad, smarting from the ongoing cutoff of its gas exports to Russia after an Apr. 9 pipeline blast, stated its wish to create "a new system of ties with Europe" in order to diversify its export outlets (WGI Apr.22,p2).