EU opens antitrust case against Russia's Gazprom gas giant
BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union is opening an antitrust case against Russia's state-controlled Gazprom energy giant amid worsening relations between Brussels and Moscow.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that Gazprom's behavior in central and eastern European member states, where it sometimes almost fully controls the gas market, amounts to an abuse of its dominant position.
Vestager said she is concerned that Gazprom imposes contractual obligations "preventing gas from flowing from certain Central Eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition" and allowing the multinational to charge unfair prices.
The move comes at a time when the EU has already imposed economic and political sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the violence in eastern Ukraine.
Gazprom has 12 weeks to react to Wednesday's EU allegations.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
NATO to hold major cyber defense drill in Estonia
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- About 400 computer experts will participate in a major cybersecurity drill in Estonia this week as part of NATO's efforts to upgrade its capability to counter potentially debilitating hacker attacks.
Teams from 16 nations will take part in the Locked Shields 2015 exercise at NATO's cyberdefense center in Tallinn. The annual drill is one of the largest of its kind.
This year's drill will involve both the Windows 8 operating system and the upcoming Windows 10 system, organizers said Tuesday.
The drill comes at a time of heightened tensions in Eastern Europe, where NATO military forces are exercising almost continuously to deter any Russian aggression following Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
Rob Pritchard, a cybersecurity expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the cyber drill probably has a similar focus.
"Russia is currently looming large on the NATO radar, and the exercise is likely to simulate attacks similar to those used by the Russian state, and state-backed actors," Pritchard said.