INSURRECTION/ SP MPs rebel, drag Gjati to vote on territorial division!

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2026-09-25 18:08:17Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Pressure from US energy companies to deepen their influence in the Western Balkans is fueling EU concerns that the region could end up dependent on US fossil fuels just as it tries to meet clean energy targets to integrate more closely with the bloc.

Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have all signaled interest in buying large volumes of liquefied natural gas from the US or building infrastructure to support the imports. The countries say the gas is needed as a transitional fuel as they reduce both Russian fuel imports and coal consumption and switch to renewables, all of which are key points of their EU membership bids.

In Albania, hydroelectric power, which dominates the energy mix, is increasingly unstable as climate-related droughts reduce river flows, according to an Albanian government official who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity. That creates demand for natural gas, which supporters tout as a “transition fuel” that can support power grids while renewable capacity is still being developed. Currently, gas makes up just 1.8 percent of Albania’s energy mix.

However, EU officials question whether the projects being mentioned are necessary or desirable, given that these countries currently have little or no domestic demand for gas. Flooding these gas markets risks locking them into long-term dependence on gas and increasing their reliance on foreign imports.

The EU has strict targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and increase the use of renewable energy, which new EU members will have to meet. EU officials fear that rising gas imports could undermine these targets.

However, the US gas sector is taking advantage of the EU’s rapid transition away from Russian gas and the tightening of global markets resulting from the war with Iran to broker a series of supply deals in the wider region, in line with the Trump administration’s explicit doctrine of “energy dominance.”

“Countries... in their broader aspiration to join the EU, have made commitments to decarbonization, to set a path and stick to it, to phase out fossil fuels,” András Hujber, who heads the EU executive’s energy diplomacy in the Western Balkans, said at a forum in Vienna, in response to a question from POLITICO.

In this context, bringing gas to the region "seems to conflict with this vital objective of decarbonization," he said.


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