Croatia agrees to support Russian backed pipeline

by Jeff Gimm

This week Croatia has signed on to a pipeline originating in Russia that will run under the Black Sea. Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy have already signed on to the deal. This deal is a boon for Croatia, as it imports 40% of its gas from Russia according to the Business Week article. Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying "The project's benefits to its participants are obvious," Putin said. "First of all, this means stable energy supply for Europe and purely financial gains." The project awaits approval from Turkey before it can begin in earnest.
This is an interesting move for Croatia, as the Croats generally try to portray themselves as European rather than Slavic. However, considering that several European nations have already signed on to the deal, it is not the large of a jump. Also, economically this deal makes sense and may have pushed to the side any concerns about appearing "Slavic".