The European Union has signed an agreement with four countries in a bid to press ahead with a gas pipeline that would reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
Azerbaijan and Egypt, which can both supply gas, and Turkey and Georgia, which are able to carry it, signed up to the Nabucco gas pipeline scheme on Friday at a meeting in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. In return for their commitment to supply gas to Europe, the EU offered to provide more trade and stronger transport links to the gas producers and transit countries involved.
Three key nations - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - refused to sign the text, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency.
Mirek Topolanek, the Czech prime minister, said the aim to open up a "southern corridor" for supplies was "not just a one-way street for pipelines." He said: "We envisage this as a new silk road where we'll see the flow of information, goods, people and energy in both ways."
AlJazeera
Azerbaijan and Egypt, which can both supply gas, and Turkey and Georgia, which are able to carry it, signed up to the Nabucco gas pipeline scheme on Friday at a meeting in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. In return for their commitment to supply gas to Europe, the EU offered to provide more trade and stronger transport links to the gas producers and transit countries involved.
Three key nations - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - refused to sign the text, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency.
Mirek Topolanek, the Czech prime minister, said the aim to open up a "southern corridor" for supplies was "not just a one-way street for pipelines." He said: "We envisage this as a new silk road where we'll see the flow of information, goods, people and energy in both ways."
AlJazeera
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