Hungary and Bulgaria have been pursuing new deals that increase their energy dependence on Russia. The most controversial is South Stream, a planned pipeline opposed by the EU that would bring Russian gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Austria. Bulgaria tapped a consortium headed by Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to the Kremlin who is on the U.S. sanctions list, to build its part of the pipeline.
Bulgaria is probably the most pro-Russian country in the region, with sympathies born of a Slavic brotherhood rooted in past alliances. The current government and its supporters include former communists, adding to Western worries that some in the ruling circle could be working secretly for Russia’s interests from within NATO and the 28-nation European Union.
The shift toward Russia is more surprising in the Czech Republic. Only a few years ago it agreed to host a U.S. missile defense site, a plan that sparked Moscow’s anger. Obama has since dropped plans for the Czech site.
The left-wing Social Democrats, who opposed the missile defense plan all along, are now in power. In a change from the Vaclav Havel-era focus on human rights, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says it makes no sense to halt business with Russia because other countries would just take it over. He warns against creating “a new Iron Curtain between the European Union and Russia.”
“The Czechs feel safer than, say, the Baltic states since they are surrounded by NATO members and Austria,” Groszkowski said. “But they worry their economy could worsen due to tensions between the EU and Russia.”
In Slovakia, Fico, the prime minister, has repeatedly said he wants to remain “a reliable partner” for Russia, though he also vows the nation will meet its obligations as a NATO member.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has radically changed his tone toward Moscow since he entered the political scene as a young revolutionary in 1989 with a fiery speech calling on Soviet troops to leave. Since taking power in 2010, the 51-year-old has deepened his country’s energy ties with Russia, Hungary’s biggest trading partner outside the EU.
Orban tapped a Russian company, Rosatom, to expand the country’s only nuclear facility, a 12 billion-euro ($16.2 billion) deal granted without an open tender — but with the promise of a loan from Russia.
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