Olga Khakova, the Deputy Director of Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Centre, considers the Serbia-Russia 3-year energy deal a cautious one because it shows that Serbia is insecure to openly admit that it still shares a strong bond with its historical ally, Russia.
In an interview with Ilva Tare for Balkan Debrief, she argued that Russia is struggling to cut deals even with close allies such as Serbia, due to the current situation with the war in Ukraine.
“I think the message is clear in terms of the energy ties still being there, to the extent that Serbia is not ready to cut them off completely, but at the same time, it might also not be ready to tie itself down for another 10 to 15 to 20 years. Partnerships with Russia are now toxic” – she declared.
Serbia relies heavily on fossil fuels and sooner or later the country will have to shift to renewable energy.
With regards to that, Olga thinks that the European Union has to play a role in shifting its energy supplies from oil to renewables, not only for Serbia but for all other Western Balkan countries as well.
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