The
European Union held a 14-hour marathon of meetings in Davos on Wednesday relating
to the Energy Community, the transit of energy resources and energy security of
Europe.
European
Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič met with Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev where the two “Confirmed the strategic diversification
role of the Southern Gas Corridor and our support for its timely completion,”
Šefčovič tweeted after the meeting.
Šefčovič
also met with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Georgia’s Vice
Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze.
Janelidze
noted that they “comprehensively discussed” Georgia’s EU integration
priorities, internal reforms related to the transit and protection of European
energy resources.
In a tweet,
Kvirikashvili thanked Šefčovič for the meeting and for taking time to discuss
the Georgian government’s priorities, Tbilisi’s European integration and
regional energy projects.
For his
part, Šefčovič welcomed “Georgia’s drive to deepen our cooperation and to align
its policies – including energy and climate – with the EU”.
In his most
significant tête-à-tête of the day, Šefčovič met with Russian Energy Minister
Alexander Novak to present the EU’s positions on key energy policy issues and
highlighted the importance of the Ukrainian transit route, which stood at 94
billion cubic metres last year.
“We agreed
to continue our discussions after the Stockholm arbitrage,” Šefčovič tweeted
after the meeting.
Šefčovič
said he also discussed “topical energy issues” with Ukraine’s President Petro
Poroshenko, noting that 2017 “was a good year for the country’s energy
reforms”.
The
Commission Vice President also took time to deem the Davos World Economic Forum
a key opportunity to showcase the EU’s leadership on clean mobility and
batteries, as well as to support a global action, to support the adoption of
global standards for green batteries.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/eu-talks-energy-russia-ukraine-georgia-azerbaijan-davos/