Italy was the first state to signal the fact that an agreement between Russia and Algeria would represent a direct hit on the European Union’s energy strategy. EU seeks for a few years to diminish its dependence on the Russian resources.
Finding alternative providers begins to represent a pressing matter for Europeans, given the states’ increasing imports.
Russian companies Gazprom and Lukoil recently announced a co-operation agreement in natural gas deliveries with the Algerian company Sonatrach, a move that caused worries among the European politicians, EU Observer noted.
EU officials see the Russian - Algerian collaboration as a threat. German daily newspaper Handelsblatt unveils in its Friday edition that the Italian Foreign Minister, Massimo d’Alema, expressed these fears in a letter sent to the European Foreign Minister, Javier Solana. „Gazprom and Sonatrach provide most of the necessary gas in Europe.
On the other hand, both companies are influenced by the governments of their countries”, wrote d’Alema.
