Letter to IHT Editor: EU Commission Should Get Tough on Member States, Too

Following the publication of my article “Get Tough with Gazprom” in the International Herald Tribune, one reader sent the attached letter to the editor:

Russia’s hold on Europe Robert Amsterdam’s article (“Get tough with Gazprom,” Views, Jan. 10) fails to give adequate attention to the fact that the EU Commission needs to get tough with member states themselves. As long as EU member states continue to advance their own energy nationalism, Europe is fair game for Gazprom. Gazprom’s divide-and-conquer strategy works because EU member states let it work. The Commission needs to address the national energy egoism and form a united policy. The Commission’s Strategic Energy Review is a good step in that direction. Whether member states will follow remains to be seen. Roderick Kefferpütz, Brussels

I couldn’t agree with the reader more, and I have said in the past that the disaggregation among EU member states organized by Russia is a key component of their strategic success.