Is the Republic of Macedonia at a crossroads regarding the procurement of energy for the most painless overcoming of the challenges that lie ahead of us, on the eve of the most difficult winter in general that is expected? And which way it will go? Will it go to the one, which leads to an absurd situation, or it will reconcile with the simple phrase – the situation is as it is?, analyzes “Pressing TV”.

All these dilemmas emerge after the Open Balkans initiative summit and today’s visit of the Macedonian delegation led by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski to official Sofia, whose focus is once again dealing with the consequences of the world energy crisis.

Translated into plain language, the situation comes down to the conclusions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, presented during his March 7 interview with the “Click Plus” show on TV21. Osmani was then determined that the purchase of Russian oil and gas would finance the Russian military.

It is clear to all of us that the purchase of Russian oil and gas finances the war, that is, the Russian army. Russia’s main assets come from natural gas and oil sources. As you can see, Europe is dependent on that gas and oil and the supply has not been completely cut off precisely because of that dependence, he said then, among other things.

He also added that “Europe is constantly, especially now looking for alternative energy sources, but for now the situation is as it is”.

The situation from March until now has not changed much in terms of both the political and the economic part. Both Kovacevski, Aleksandar Vucic and Edi Rama in Belgrade were decisive that mutual cooperation is necessary from the point of view of providing each other with enough food and energy to survive the coming winter. Rama even warned the EU not to allow a repeat of the situation with the procurement of vaccines for the Covid-19 pandemic.

The absurdity of the situation imposes the dilemma of whether Prime Minister Kovacevski will now, through Serbian President Vucic, actually beg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for the purchase of certain quantities of Russian gas, which both procured on time and filled their warehouses contrary to the commitments of the EU and the US?

The picture is not much different even in neighboring Bulgaria. Because, after the fall of the Government of Kiril Petkov, who wanted to completely clear the procurement of Russian gas and replace it with American liquid, the new technical Government of Prime Minister Galab Donev, under the pressure of President Rumen Radev, prioritized restoring the contract with Gazprom! And, at the same time, it is making every effort to complete the gas pipeline from Alexandroupolis to Bulgaria for American and Azerbaijani gas, which unfortunately bypassed Macedonia.

It is indicative that the information about Prime Minister Kovacevski’s visit to Sofia does not strictly mention the purchase of gas, but of electricity. But even without that, that electricity has to be produced from something, be it coal, liquid or natural gas, or the Belene nuclear plant.