Italy Pushes Back on WikiLeaks Accusations
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has dismissed allegations by U.S. diplomats of Rome's dependence on Moscow in energy issues, which have been published by WikiLeaks.
"Independence and energy security correspond to Italy's national interests. No one can decide for us in this respect," Frattini said in a TV broadcast on Saturday.
"Our way is diversification [of energy sources]: first Russia, then Libya, then Algeria and Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Italy itself decides on it," the minister said.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's "extraordinarily close relationship" with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was touched upon in the recently released WikiLeaks documents. The deal between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Italy's Eni over the South Stream gas pipeline project, according to the whistleblower website, was "causing intense US suspicion."
The South Stream gas pipeline designed to transport Russian gas to Western Europe under the Black Sea bypassing Ukraine is to be jointly built by Gazprom, Eni and Electricite de France . The construction of the pipeline, widely seen as a rival to the EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline, is expected to begin in 2013.
Frattini said on Saturday Italy had never covered its intentions in the energy sphere from the United States.
"[U.S. Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton had asked me to provide information regarding Eni's activities in the South Stream project, and I organized a meeting in the United States with [Eni CEO Paolo] Scaroni in order to explain this project," he said.
Eni was also reported to be under pressure by the United States in respect to its dealings with Iran.
The comments came a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as part of Russian-Italian extended intergovernmental talks.
Source: RIA Novosti