ENERGY SECURITY OF EUROPE AND NATO

Unhindered access to energy resources is of vital importance to the wellbeing of national economy. It is one of the necessary conditions for the ability of state to provide basic services, as well as a fundamental requirement for state to maintain its economic, but also political sovereignty. The different degree of energy dependencies affect both the dynamics of relations and the nature of national sovereignty within the EU and the Alliance. Energy security, nonetheless, remains contested priority among NATO members. Can NATO as an organization contribute to the Energy security of Europe?

Energy security is primarily domestic responsibility of each and every Member of the alliance and no state can or should be relying on the provision of their security by others in order to free-ride and reduce the necessary investment into defence, or energy security. NATO is an excellent platform for developing and sharing of best practices as well as for cooperation and coordination in research and coping with energy security threats. Alliance members can use the existing Article IV to improve the resilience and protect their critical infrastructure.

Read more in Policy Paper prepared especially for 5th GLOBSEC Security Conference by ANDREJ NOSKO, Researcher in Energy Security, at :

http://www.ata-sac.org/globsec2010/uploads/documents/Andrej%20Nosko%20-%20Energy%20Security%20of%20Europe%20and%20NATO.pdf