The United States sees energy security in the Western Balkans as a national-security priority and is stepping up efforts to help the region reduce its dependence on Russian supplies, Joshua Volz, a special envoy for energy integration at the US Department of Energy, told RFE/RL.
Washington wants to expand access to US energy resources, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), while supporting infrastructure corridors that could strengthen regional stability, investment, and economic growth, he said in a phone interview on May 6.
RFE/RL: Several recent US-backed energy initiatives have been announced or discussed with Albania, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, and Montenegro. What is driving this renewed US push in the Western Balkans?
Joshua Volz: First and foremost, we are looking to be able to use US energy and energy resources to support our partners and allies globally and give our partners and allies better options and greater access to energy diversification and energy security. And so these renewed engagements, both in terms of intergovernmental agreements and infrastructure deals, help facilitate the abilities where the United States can provide our secure, reliable, affordable, and dependable energy resources to our partners and allies, where they have previously been overly dependent on sources and routes for energy that have come at the expense of the energy security of the region.
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As China's Oil Giants Look Abroad, A Serbian City Finds Itself In Their SightsAnd the Western Balkans are an incredibly important part of the global energy architecture and have tremendous investment potential for US businesses and US industry, but without secure, reliable, and affordable energy resources, investments in those economies can't grow. And so that's why we're prioritizing the ability to reengage with and increase our engagement with our Western Balkan partners.
RFE/RL: How do these projects fit into global efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy, especially in regions like southeast Europe?
Volz: So, the fact of the matter is, is that you can't ask somebody to replace something with nothing, and we've seen this, the tremendous cost that Europe has paid for an overreliance on Russian resources. Russia has proven time and time again their willingness to use energy resources as a weapon and as a tool for political coercion, and we don't want our partners and allies to continue to suffer under the tyranny and the weight of a lack of energy options that an overreliance on Moscow creates.
So, what we're doing is we're showing up with the ability to deliver US energy resources and to replace the Russian molecules. And this is one of the greatest alignments in the Euro-Atlantic relationship between President [Donald] Trump and [European Commission] President [Ursula] von der Leyen, both of whom have called for an end to Russian energy molecules and energy resources in the European energy system by the end of 2027.
That's a very ambitious goal, and there's a lot of work that needs to be done in order to realize the ambitions of President Trump and President von der Leyen, who, as I said, are in lockstep agreement with the need to eliminate Russian resources from Europe's energy system.
And so that's why you see such a significant focus from senior leadership in the United States government, across the board, from the Department of Energy and Secretary [Chris] Wright, the National Energy Dominance Council and Secretary [Doug] Burgum, and the State Department and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio, all working in lockstep within their respective agencies and institutions to do what's necessary to open up those new trade routes, to make those trade routes economically viable, secure, affordable for US energy resources to come in and help provide the stability and the energy security that President Trump has prioritized for the United States' relationship with Europe.
RFE/RL: Are these initiatives mainly about energy security, or do they also reflect broader US, strategic, and geopolitical interest in the region?
Volz: That's a great question. Energy security is national security. We do not see any daylight or any difference between those two things. If you don't have energy security, you have any security whatsoever, because energy touches and underpins everything. It underpins the ability to grow economies, to provide jobs, to be able to create budgets that can spend on defense in order to secure borders. So, energy is the bedrock of everything that we do in our relationships with our partners and allies throughout the world. So, energy security really is the foundation for all security and everything that flows from that.
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Washington Steps Into Europe’s Energy Gap In The BalkansRFE/RL: What tangible benefits should countries in the region expect over the next five to 10 years?
Volz: Well, I think that you're going to see a significant increase in foreign direct investment into these jurisdictions that are choosing to partner with the United States for their energy security and their energy diversification, because companies know that if the United States is providing energy and is the kind of foundational element of the economy within these jurisdictions, that that's something that they can rely upon. Never once, not during hurricanes, national disasters, wars, conflicts, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, not one time have US producers not delivered cargo that they were contracted to deliver. And that reliability sends a very strong market signal to anybody that is partnering with the United States on energy resources, that those resources are going to be there and that those investments are going to be secured by this reliable, affordable, and secure energy supply chain that the United States provides.
So we're going to see a tremendous uptick in foreign direct investment into these jurisdictions. You're going to see the ability for better choices to be made in energy security to be increased because of that diversification and because of the closer relationships that these countries and these industries within these countries have with US industry -- those economic and those commercial ties are going to grow, not just within the energy sector, but well beyond, as well.
RFE/RL: The EU wants the region to reduce dependence on Russian gas, but it is also pushing decarbonization and has raised concerns about transparency and market rules in some projects, including in Bosnia-Herzegovina. How do you see those concerns?
Volz: Well, I think those concerns need to take into account first principles. And first principles are that you have to provide energy before you can start making energy decisions. And right now, the Western Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe face a decision between having unreliable and politically coercive energy resources at the foundation of their economies. Or, energy resources that are reliable, provide additional strength and partnerships with the United States and the ability to grow economies and provide for the necessary economic growth to fund the important defense expenditures that conflicts like the war in Ukraine have underpinned over the last four years.
So for us, it's the decision between having an energy abundant system or an energy system that is wanting for resources. And if you look at the economic and industrial contraction that has taken place because of some of the energy policies that have been pursued by our European partners and have been focused on by Brussels, I don't think that that's not something that any of our partners and allies in those economies is happy with. Nobody wants to see economic decline or industrial contraction, and some of the policies that have been pursued heretofore by trying to eliminate absolutely the essential parts of an energy system have led to those outcomes. I hope that our European partners and allies take that into consideration as they look to re-architect their energy system with more reliable, secure, affordable partners moving forward.
RFE/RL: Do these US-backed energy plants in the Western Balkans conflict with EU rules and green transition goals?
Volz: We're working very closely with our counterparts in Brussels [regarding] the market dynamics within EU borders and beyond EU borders. Because the number of these countries within the Western Balkans are not part of the EU. Many of them have EU membership aspirations, but there are a number that are not within the EU. But we're working closely with our partners in Brussels to make sure that the market dynamics are such that they facilitate the expansion of energy corridors and energy routes and the ability for US molecules to support the economies and the energy security as for reasons that that we share with our European partners and allies. We've seen significant progress made in the Vertical Corridor towards the harmonization of regulations and the support of bundled products that allow for those long-term economic decisions, which underpin those opportunities to move forward. So, we're working closely with our colleagues in Brussels to make sure that the market dynamics are in place to support those aspirations.
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As The EU Eases Sanctions On Pristina, What's Next For Kosovo?RFE/RL: So, Kosovo currently has no natural gas infrastructure and is not directly part of these initiatives. Where does Kosovo fit in the US regional energy strategy?
Volz: Kosovo is a very important partner and ally, and the United States was the first country to recognize Kosovo's independence, and we continue to double down on our relationship with our partners in Pristina and the economic opportunities there are significant. The energy system in Kosovo is in desperate need of modernization, and it represents a tremendous opportunity for US industry and US technology to come in, modernize, increase the output and the efficiency of those systems and really help drive economic growth in Kosovo.
RFE/RL: Are there discussions or plans that could eventually connect Kosovo to regional gas or LNG infrastructure, either directly or indirectly?
Volz: That is part of a broader discussion that is taking place and being facilitated by increasing the influx of US energy resources through the various corridors in Europe, the Vertical Corridor, which I discussed in the entry point there that exists in Greece, and several of the floating storage and regasification units there. A floating storage regasification unit, the FSRU at Kirk Island, through Croatia and the southern interconnector, piece of infrastructure that was just signed in the historic and first of its kind, intergovernmental agreement on energy between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, is a major step forward in helping to create the pathways and arteries that will allow US to get natural gas to flow to places like Kosovo. And so it's a necessary first step, but it's certainly not the last, and it is our goal to be able to have US energy resources reach all of our partners and allies that are interested in having that long term energy relationship with the US industry and with the United States of America.
RFE/RL: So, is Kosovo seen as a stable and attractive market for future energy projects and what would need to improve to attract larger investment?
Volz: I think that as far as energy is concerned, it's certainly a market that's right for investment and ripe for opportunity and modernization. I think you know what needs to be done in terms of creating a greater incentive for US private sector investment and international finance to flow into Kosovo are things that my colleagues at the Department of Commerce and our colleagues, Department of Treasury and Department of State, are very, very much focused on. If and when the time comes that those market dynamics start to change in that business environment becomes more attractive to facilitate US energy investments, the Department of Energy will be waiting with open arms to help facilitate the relationships between US industry and industry partners in Kosovo.
RFE/RL: Are there any formal or informal links between US officials and the private companies involved in these projects in general?
Volz: Yes, there are a number of US companies that are already operating and making significant investments in the energy infrastructure and the import of US LNG into the Western Balkans. There's an American company that you saw signed into the legislation as the developer of the Bosnia-Herzegovina southern interconnector that we are working closely with to help facilitate and accelerate that project. And there are a number of other US, major US companies that have expressed interest in participating in those investment opportunities, because they said the Western Balkans is ripe for investment, and the policies and the regulations that...make those investments easier are going to be absolutely essential in attracting the greatest amount of foreign direct investment and moving those energy systems into stronger, more prosperous, more secure, and more affordable energy systems to drive economic growth and prosperity within those jurisdictions.