The 'Most Vulnerable Country' To Russian ‘Blackmail’ Braces For Trump’s Return
HuffPost
When Ukraine cuts off Russian gas shipments via its pipelines, the European Union will face major shortages – but few as bad as in tiny Moldova.
Europe is bracing for another energy crisis this winter, teeing up a high-stakes early test of how a newly inaugurated Trump administration will attempt to balance efforts to reset relations with Russia against the needs of U.S. allies seeking fuel to stay warm during what’s forecast to be an unusually cold season.
On Jan. 1, 2025, the Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom’s long-standing contract to ship fuel to Europe via Ukraine’s pipelines expires. With no renewal deal in sight as Moscow intensifies its assault on its neighbor and the U.S. ratchets up sanctions on Russia’s gas business, Gazprom is now planning for the total end of sales to Europe transiting through Ukraine next year.
The breakup has already begun. This week, Gazprom completely cut off shipments of gas to Austria for the first time in 50 years over a payment dispute. Unless Kyiv brokers an eleventh-hour deal to keep Russian gas flowing through Ukraine, Slovakia is expected to face major shortages in January, drawing supplies away from fellow European Union countries right as winter drives up demand. With Germany already burning through gas supplies to make up for the lost power from the nuclear plants it shuttered two years ago, Europe is increasingly relying on costly imports of liquefied natural gas to make it through winter.
Few places will feel the pinch as much as Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest nations and the one its own leaders have described as the “most vulnerable country” in Europe to “Russian energy blackmail.”
Russia’s invasion in 2022 sent shockwaves through the tiny former Soviet republic landlocked between Romania and Ukraine. Like Ukraine, Moldova’s government is attempting to embrace the West and ultimately join the EU. But as in Ukraine and Georgia, Moscow has maintained some control in Moldova by propping up pro-Russia separatist forces in a breakaway province.
