After the invasion of Ukraine the European Union decided to reduce the oil and gas imports from Vladimir Putin's Russia. EU leaders have repeatedly urged Moscow to cease fire, applying sanctions and adopting unprecedented measures to stop financing a war that is upsetting every political, strategic and economic balance in all areas of the world. An ethical question, yes, but for months European leaders have found themselves forced to court presidents and hereditary princes, among most autocratic heads of state in the world, from warmongers to the worst human rights violators, some even with murder charges hanging over their heads.
La energy realpolitik of the West is therefore subjected to considerable tensions. But as he said Paolo scaroni, in the years in which he headed ENI, "oil cannot be found in Switzerland", to explain that, in order to procure energy sources, one must also accept that one cannot choose who will sell it to you and this means that in order to have oil and gas one is forced to mediate, even when human rights are at stake. Let's see then, taking up a survey published by Politico.eu at what point things are.
Oil and human rights: the EU disengages from Moscow, what alternatives?
Last year, Russian natural gas accounted for 40% of EU demand and Russian crude accounted for a quarter of EU imports. The REPowerEU programme aims to radically reduce this dependency with energy savings and new supplies.
This has sparked a rush for non-Russian oil and gas, but most alternatives have their ethical drawbacks. Suppliers, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, from Algeria to Iran, are all at the top of the ranking of theIndex of Human Freedom, a barometer of open countries developed by Cato Institute, a United States-based libertarian institution.
“The European Union has decided to diversify its sourcing from Russia and to turn to more reliable and trustworthy partners,” the Commission President said this month Ursula von der Leyenspeaking with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Meanwhile, less than a week ago the French president Emmanuel Macron hosted Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who controls a large amount of oil but is accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the outgoing prime minister Mario Draghi they have forged ties with North African hydrocarbon states. It should be clarified that there are no alternatives and that it is a question of filling a huge hole in supplies, in a very short time, that is before winter.
The worst human rights leaders selling oil and gas
An article by Politico.eu – “Blood for oil: here are the world's worst leaders selling dirty energy to Europe” – ranks from worst to best the moral entanglements deriving from the EU's need for oil and gas .
Russia
Relations with Russia are in jeopardy as the army of Vladimir Putin continue to slaughter Ukraine. A few days ago, the US Senate unanimously approved a resolution asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Index of human freedom: 126 out of 165 (the ranking has not kept pace with the bloody deeds of the Kremlin in Ukraine).
Saudi Arabia
The West is very dependent on this country and bin Salman he knows it well. Although Saudi oil represents less than 10% of Europe's total imports, the country has great influence over the work of OPEC and therefore over the state of the global market.
US President Joe Biden has already visited the Middle East this month to try to shore up supplies, abandoning his earlier pledge to make the Saudi royals "pariahs". It's not just about Khashoggi's murder. A Saudi-led coalition continues a bloody war in Yemen. Saudi authorities crack down on dissidents and human rights activists.
Human Freedom Index: 155 out of 165.
Iran
Iran has the largest gas reserves in the world, but sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program block any legal shipment of oil or gas. Aside from the nuclear issue, Iran - led by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – continues to repress his people, with security agencies accused of gross human rights violations and Iranian forces deeply embroiled in the civil war in Syria.
IHuman Freedom Index: 160 out of 165.
Egypt
The Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi went to Berlin, agreeing to send even more gas to Germany along with hydrogen as part of a cooperation deal. He was also in Paris to talk about energy with Macron. In June, Von der Leyen announced an agreement to bring more gas from Egypt and Israel to Europe. But the REl-Sisi's authoritarian regime has serious human rights problems.
“Tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists and human rights defenders, remain jailed on politically motivated charges,” Human Rights Watch noted.
Human Freedom Index: 161 out of 165.
Qatar
Qatar, ruled by the sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, it may be tiny but this year it has two big assets: football stadiums, given the FIFA World Cup winter tournament – an event that has forced the country to try to clean up its long-standing problems of mistreatment of migrant workers – and Europe's sudden demand for its liquefied gas riches.
Human Freedom Index: 128 out of 165.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has long been talked about as an alternative energy lifeline. And it is, undeniably. The country is connected to the EU by the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and by the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) which reaches Italy. During a trip to Baku earlier this month, Von der Leyen signed an agreement to increase supplies by 50% to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm), then to 20 bcm "in a few years".
But Azerbaijan also has its problems. There is the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which saw Azerbaijan defeat Armenia. Aliyev, the country's hereditary ruler, also has human rights concerns. The country has come under fire for electoral fraud, curtailing press freedom and the arrest and beating of opposition activists.
Human Freedom Index: 127 out of 165.
Algeria
Mario Draghi secured new gas supplies to Algeria after meeting the president Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Based on a agreement Finalized last month, Algerian state-owned energy company Sonatrach and Italy's Eni will develop an oil field and market another 9 billion cubic meters of gas by 2024. This will put Algeria overtaking Russia as the country's top gas supplier. Italy.
Algeria has its reasons for engaging in gas politics, as it supports the independence movement in Western Sahara and has long been in a diplomatic standoff with Morocco, which claims control of the territory. This has already led Algeria to abandon a cooperation agreement with Spain (which supports Morocco) and raises the specter of using energy as leverage in an entirely different conflict. The government also has a poor record of cracking down on political opposition and limiting freedom of speech.
Human Freedom Index: 154 out of 165.
United States
Things change when you enter the Western world. The US has promised to help the EU with a flotilla of cargo liquefied natural gasafter the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the United States will not be able to cover Russia's gas share on its own; thus, the White House pledged to use its diplomatic clout to help get cargo from other countries into Europe.
Although the United States is a solid democracy, there was a coup attempt on January 6 and who knows what direction the country will take in the next presidential elections.
Human Freedom Index: 15 out of 165.
Norway
Norway has already been a major supplier of fossil fuels to EU countries for some time, accounting for nearly a tenth of the bloc's oil imports and about a quarter of its gas supplies. With the June agreement between the EU and Oslo, Norwegian gas will enter Europe.
While there is no doubt about Norway's democratic credentials, its climate policy is under fire: It earns large sums from oil and gas sales, which is why it vetoes the famous ceiling on the price of gas, even as it is pushing to greener its economy by accelerating the use of hydroelectric power and pushing on electric cars.
Human Freedom Index: 13 out of 165.
