Turkey signs Nabucco pipeline plan with EU, key nations reject

The EU sought to kick-start the long-planned Nabucco pipeline, which is to deliver Caspian gas while bypassing Russia and Ukraine, by launching plans at a summit in Prague to tie countries in the region into a broader Southern Corridor infrastructure project.

The 3,300-kilometre (2,050-mile) pipeline between Turkey and Austria, which is supposed to start pumping gas to Europe by 2014, needs an estimated 7.9 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars) to start running.

But it also needs gas, which may be a problem as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan refused to sign the final declaration in Prague, unlike two other suppliers -- Azerbaijan and Egypt -- and two key transit nations -- Turkey and Georgia.

"We haven’t overcome all obstacles by far," acknowledged Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the six-month EU presidency.

"It is obvious that these countries don’t like to sign this type of declaration and never do that, and today was no exception," he said, adding Azerbaijan had signed because it "is nursing European hopes, unlike Central Asian countries."

Aspirations of closer ties with the bloc also played a role for EU-candidate Turkey, which had threatened to block Nabucco in January over a lack of progress in its accession talks.

But its President Abdullah Gul adopted a less confrontational approach in Prague.

"We have an interest to sign it, it is up to the EU side to open this energy chapter. It is clear that Turkey is playing a crucial role in this, (and) it is up to them to realize that we play that role," he said.

The declaration says that the EU and Turkey should wrap up talks on a Nabucco deal "as quickly as possible (and) to sign it by the end of June 2009," as well as identify "gas volumes available for marketing in the EU and Turkey."

The EU has been looking for alternative gas sources especially since a row between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices halted key supplies to Europe in January, leaving thousands of households without heating in a bitter winter.

European Union nations rely on Russia gas for a quarter of their total supplies.

The joint statement also called for progress on ITGI, a Turkish-Greek gas pipeline taking gas to Italy, and for an extension of an oil transport system between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan that "could be developed in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions."

The Southern Corridor project also seeks to boost transport links with Turkey and the South Caucasus while extending connections as far as Central Asia and the Middle East.

As well, the statement urges the EU to sign deals on energy with Iraq and Egypt and "agree on specific projects in developing Egypt’s gas reserves and export potential for the EU."

"Infrastructure projects which interconnect the countries along the Southern Corridor will act as a catalyst for further cooperation in other areas," reads the statement.

Topolanek said Russia was concerned about the project because it "wants pipelines from Asia to lead through its territory... (and) a pipeline bypassing their territory endangers their own supplies, in their eyes."

"They are not fully in favor of the project at 100 percent, but we must negotiate because the Russian Federation is the EU’s most important partner when it comes to supplies," he added.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said he expected the issue to appear on the table for the EU’s summit with Russia, scheduled for May 21-22 in Khabarovsk, Russia.

"I will discuss this matter with President (Dmitry) Medvedev," he said.

"We want to make (the Southern Corridor) a win-win situation for everyone involved," he added.