“Europe has only the ‘Nord Stream,’ but it should have the ‘South Stream’ as well, call it the ‘Turkish Stream’ or whatever you like. Our part of Europe should not be cut off from gas deliveries,” he said.
“We want Brussels to show a responsible attitude toward energy security issues,” the minister said.
Belgrade is interested in joining the project to deliver Russian gas to southern Europe via Turkey and calls on the European Union to clearly determine its stance on the issue, Ivica Dacic said.
“We can express our principal consent to take part in this project of the Turkish Stream, so we need to have a serious talk about it. Reliable gas supplies are vital for us,” the minister said after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“We call on the European Union to study the issue, to express its stance clearly and to avoid creating problems,” he continued.
Dacic added that along with the "northern" route of gas deliveries from Russia, Europe should have a "southern" alternative such as the planned Turkish Stream pipeline.
The Serbian Foreign Minister told reporters that his country, along with Hungary, had only one delivery route for the Russian gas at the moment. This route, running through the territory of Ukraine, is expected to be closed in the coming years.
"Europe has only the 'Nord Stream,' but it should have the 'South Stream' as well, call it the 'Turkish Stream' or whatever you like. Our part of Europe should not be cut off from gas deliveries," he said, adding that Serbia would want Brussels to show a responsible attitude toward the issues of energy security.
In December 2014, Moscow announced the cancellation of its South Stream pipeline project that was to transport Russian gas across the Black Sea through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to Italy and Austria.
The project was scrapped mainly due to the stance of the European Union. The European Commission claimed that the project would violate the EU Third Energy Package that prohibits simultaneous ownership of both the gas and the pipeline through which it flows.
As a substitute to the South Stream, Russia's energy giant Gazprom unveiled the plan to build a pipeline with a similar capacity across Turkey, with a gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border from which the Russian gas would flow to the countries of South Europe.
In mid-April, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia will most likely cease transiting gas through Ukraine when the current contract expires in 2019. He also announced that the Turkish Stream may be extended to Austria through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.
The Turkish Stream is expected to become operational in December 2016.
