ENERGY SECURITY OF THE EU UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF RUSSIA: DOES SOUTHERN GAS CORRIDOR STILL HAVE CONTRIBUTION?

Russia is the largest energy supplier of the EU; however gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine in 2006 demonstrated that Russia is not a reliable partner for the EU. Then, the EU decided to take some measures for a secure and sustainable energy supply in the future through energy supply and route diversification efforts. Most prominent alternatives have been the Caspian region; however, the problem was how to transport the Caspian energy reserves to EU. Therefore, the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) was termed by the European Commission in 2009. The aim of this study is to discuss the fundamentals of the EU's energy security under the influence of Russia and the evolution and the role of the SGC in the EU's energy security in the future. Main findings achieved from this study that the SGC has huge potential to decrease the EU's energy dependency on Russia and securing its energy supplies in the medium and long-term if the Union shows patience to the project, continues to invest in and could solve the problems with Russia, against the construction of the SGC since it will be a threat for Russia's energy sales.