Winter on the Way, Europeans Worry Russia Could Shut Off the Gas

Winter is coming to Europe, and across this continent of half a billion people, citizens are turning on their heating. Every radiator turned on in the European Union is a reminder of this fact: one quarter of the EU’s gas needs are supplied by one foreign company alone: Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom.

The Pew Research Center recently reported the majority of western Europeans distrust President Vladimir Putin, and are concerned about overdependence on Russian energy. Nina-Maria Potts reports.


Russia has been supplying Europe with energy for decades, and despite ideological differences, has been a reliable source of energy.

But recent tensions over a range of other issues, including human rights, have sparked jitters over Russia’s long-term dependability — especially as the EU has dwindling oil and gas reserves of its own.

And two winters ago Russia turned off gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute that briefly disrupted flows to Europe.

But when Gazprom threatened to do the same again this autumn, there was one key difference: Moscow sent reassurances that Europe’s energy supplies would not suffer.

VOA