Mirek Topolánek Meets Leaders of Bulgaria, Georgia and Azerbaijan

Czech Prime Minister and President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek met representatives of Bulgaria, Georgia and Azerbaijan in Budapest for bilateral talks on the prospects for reinforcing the EU energy security.

The meeting took place on the eve of a summit meeting of countries that are stakeholders in the Nabucco project. Nabucco is a plan to build a new pipeline network supplying natural gas from independent producers to EU Member States.

“It is time the European Union embraced this project and backed its implementation. Alternative supplies of energy resources must be independent both in terms of source and in terms of transit”, stated the Czech Prime Minister after a series of talks.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev stressed that the construction of alternative corridors for supplies of energy resources now needs a clear political signal from the EU. The Czech and Bulgarian Prime Ministers agreed on the importance of further development and research in the area of nuclear energy use.

Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Nika Gilauri asked the EU through the Czech Presidency to strengthen EU-Georgia relations at commercial as well as diplomatic levels and pointed out that Georgia, alongside Azerbaijan, is a key state in terms of access to independent energy resources in the Caspian region.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev drew a comparison between the historical experience of his country and that of the Czech Republic and said in this respect that the issue of energy security was important not only for the economy, but also to maintain national independence. He also emphasised the fact that the prospective implementation of the Nabucco project would not mean bypassing the Russian Federation, but choosing the shortest way for gas from the Caspian region to reach Europe.

President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek intends to inform his partners about today’s talks at the Nabucco summit.