The US is investing billions in the Balkans - Brussels worried about a new European dependency
"The United States is using the transformation of Europe's energy supply to expand its geopolitical influence in the Balkans. By investing in LNG pipelines and terminals and long-term contracts for the supply of liquefied gas, it wants to become the most important gas supplier in the Balkans."
But there are growing concerns in Brussels that Europe could thus replace an old dependency with a new one,” the German newspapers write. They refer to the Dubrovnik Business Forum, on the margins of which American companies recently signed contracts worth billions of dollars. Among the important projects is the construction of the Southern Interconnection pipeline, which transports American liquefied natural gas from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The 236-kilometer-long pipeline, estimated at $1.5 billion, will be financed, built and operated by an American company with close ties to President Trump's circle. The government in Sarajevo awarded a 30-year concession to build and operate the pipeline to the American company, without a public tender, despite the fact that Brussels did not like this.
In February, the US Congress passed a law called the "Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act", which aims to deepen economic cooperation with countries in the region. The text then says that it is expected that the share of US gas could increase to 80 percent by 2028. In Greece, up to 66 percent of gas imports came from the US in the first quarter of 2026. The US considers Greece the most important energy partner in the Eastern Mediterranean.
From Greek terminals, American gas is transported to Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Ukraine. North Macedonia and Serbia also plan to join the network. At the end of April, the Greek company Aktor Group concluded a twenty-year contract for the supply of American gas to Albania. The fact that the signing of the contract in Tirana was attended by the US ambassador to Greece and close Trump aide, Kimberly Guilfoyle, shows the political weight of the project.
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