Environmental activists on Monday called on their governments to resist lobbying to build a pipeline and infrastructure in the region and focus on renewable energy, thus aligning with its policy.
Harsh criticism of the work Trump’s ex-lawyer took on
As the European Union plans to ban all Russian gas imports by 2028, the US is seeking to pump its own gas and oil into the Western Balkans in a bid to reduce the region’s dependence on Russian gas and oil. Activists argue that new natural gas projects will have a negative impact on the climate and the economy, stressing that long-term investments will not pay off.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Dubrovnik later this week on the transfer of US natural gas to Bosnia from a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Croatian island of Krk.
The (Southern Interconnection) and to manage it through a concession contract.
“Licensing, expropriation and construction could easily take a decade, while the infrastructure itself would cost billions, before even accounting for the cost of gas,” activists from 47 non-governmental organizations said in a joint statement.
Mass appeal against the project
The organizations called on the governments of Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo to set their energy plans independently, in line with EU law and policies and based on up-to-date and publicly available data and public consultations.
AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC, founded last year in the US and run by Jesse Binal, Trump’s former lawyer, and Joseph Flynn, brother of Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, said it would invest about 1.5 billion euros ($1.76 billion) in the project.
Earlier this month, Bosnia’s regional parliament amended the law regulating the pipeline project, designating AAFS as the main investor and project leader.
Reactions from the EU as well
The EU delegation in Bosnia warned last week that the country, which is seeking to join the Union, must align its legislation and standards with those of the EU, including on energy policy.
“Bosnia-Herzegovina has huge potential in renewable energy sources and the focus of the EU’s energy policy in the country is to help it realize this potential,” the EU delegation said in a statement to Reuters.
