Wintershall warns U.S. against playing ‘geopolitical football.’

 

German energy company Wintershall, a European partner with Russia’s Gazprom, said the European energy sector can’t be used for “geopolitical football.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a bill into law that sanctions Iran, North Korea and Russia. The Russian measure in particular is significant given the election issue clouding the Trump administration.

Hammond’s threat to Europe: We’ll turn Britain into a TAX HAVEN if you try to ‘wound’ us in Brexit talks as he warns UK will do whatever it takes to ‘regain competitiveness’

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the UK would do whatever it takes to ‘regain competitiveness’ if it is denied a good trade deal

 

• Chancellor says UK will do anything needed to stay competitive post-Brexit
• Suggests corporation tax and red tape could be slashed to lure in business
• Comes as Theresa May prepares to deliver speech setting out Brexit approach
• Jeremy Corbyn accuses government of risking a ‘trade war’ with Europe

Philip Hammond has delivered a stark warning to the EU that Britain will slash taxes and battle for business if the bloc tries to ‘wound’ us in the looming Brexit talks.

The Chancellor said the UK would do whatever it takes to ‘regain competitiveness’ if it is denied a good trade deal.

The threat comes as Theresa May prepares to flesh out her plans for cutting ties with Brussels – making clear that she is ready to leave the European single market and customs union in order to regain control of immigration.

Iran wants Greece to be ally within EU

Iran hopes to make Greece a reliable ally within the European Union and hopes Greece could become an enterance [sic] gate into the European market. 

EU wants ‘Mediterranean hub’ for Azeri gas

Key policy ties in with the Maltese government’s prospective energy shift to gas, supplied by Azeri state corporation SOCAR

The European Union is looking southwards to develop a “southern gas corridor” for natural gas from Azerbaijan to fuel the European mainland.

The European Commission released an EU energy security strategy earlier this week, in response to the political crisis in Ukraine which is threatening gas supplies from Russia, after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could cut off supplies to Ukraine unless the latter starts to pay off its gas debt, which Russia’s Gazprom says stands at €2.5 billion.

Russia can switch to payments with India, China in national currencies crushing dollar amid sanctions – experts

Experts believe that the wish of the West to restrict Moscow’s cooperation with Brussels and Washington will play into the hands of the Russian economy. Wisdom and presence of mind are two components that will guarantee success for a new spiral of Russia’s cooperation with eastern countries. Also, this will allow us to counter-balance the risks that the European market is exposed to.

…

Russia has decided to develop cooperation with Asian countries. India, for example is our partner in issues of the military-industrial complex, in the high-tech segment. Cooperation with China is based on the raw materials sector, engineering, military technology. Recall that the Russian president’s visit is due in May.

Most likely, agreements on natural gas will be signed. Actually, bearing in mind that China will become the world’s largest economy in the near future, the development of the eastern vector will guarantee that a considerable part of extra profits and the growth of the home market will be generated in the South-East Asia.

Integration Rivalry with Moscow

KIEV/BERLIN (Own report) – Because the German government-backed attempt to overthrow the government in Kiev has not taken place, foreign policy experts in Berlin are now discussing cautious changes of course in Germany’s policy toward the Ukraine. Retrospective analyses are now admitting that, had the Ukraine signed the EU Association Agreement, serious economic and social damage would have been inflicted on that country. The foreign policy establishment continues to assert that Berlin should bring the Ukraine into its sphere of hegemonic influence. This therefore places Berlin in an “integration rivalry with Moscow.” To integrate the Ukraine, new proposals call for either bypassing elite circles by fostering contacts to “civil society” or by compelling integration with targeted economic interventions. In any case, the rightwing extremist Svoboda Party has been able to enhance its position within the protest movement during the recent demonstrations. It could benefit from the cooperation also with German diplomats during the agitation against the current Ukrainian government.

Cyprus signs LNG deal with US-Israeli partnership

As was predicted in a previous post, is being done. A ‘United States of Europe’ is slowly but surely being formed.

Cyprus inked a deal with a US-Israeli partnership on Wednesday to build a liquefied natural gas plant on the island to exploit untapped energy riches.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Cyprus and a partnership comprising US-based Noble Energy International and Israeli companies Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration to build a LNG facility at Vassiliko near the southern resort town of Limassol.

“The signing … represents the next milestone on the road map for the exploitation of gas reserves in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone,” said Cyprus Energy and Commerce Minister George Lakkotrypis at the official ceremony.