ECFR Ranks Bulgaria Leader in Energy Diversification Score
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has ranked Bulgaria as a leader on diversification of gas dependence away from Russia for its decision to freeze the South Stream project in July 2014.
“Although this was after significant [European] Commission pressure, it was at high cost to Bulgaria which is almost completely energy dependent on Russia,” the international think-tank said in its 2015 European Foreign Policy Scorecard.
The European Foreign Policy Scorecard provides a systematic assessment of Europe’s foreign policy performance, analysing the performance of the 28 member states and the EU institutions on 65 policy areas arranged around six key themes: Russia; United States; Wider Europe; Middle East and North Africa; Asia and China; Multilateral issues.
The ECFR identifies member states as “leaders” when they either took initiative in a constructive way or acted in an exemplary way (for example by devoting disproportionate resources).