The European Union warns that the deal on the hyperlink to Croatia might jeopardise Bosnia’s bid to hitch the bloc.
Printed On 28 Apr 2026
Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed a deal to assemble a fuel pipeline that’s backed by traders linked to United States President Donald Trump and guarantees to scale back the nation’s dependence on Russian provide.
The settlement, signed with neighbouring Croatia on Tuesday at a summit within the metropolis of Dubrovnik, goals to alleviate Sarajevo of its reliance on Russian fuel, which it must do prematurely of a European Union ban on vitality purchases from Moscow set to take impact subsequent 12 months.
Bosnian Prime Minister Borjana Kristo, who signed the deal alongside Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, described it as a “main step ahead” that strengthens vitality safety and diversifies provide.
Nonetheless, the European Union, of which Bosnia is searching for membership, warned that the Southern Interconnection Settlement, as it’s formally identified, might jeopardise the nation’s accession bid and put in danger greater than $1bn in assist because of a scarcity of transparency across the challenge.
Bosnia is within the technique of searching for EU membership, which means it’s required to fulfill obligations for member states, with vitality a very delicate problem.
Trump has been pushing exhausting to influence European international locations to dump Russian fuel and purchase US liquefied pure fuel (LNG) as a substitute.
Trump connections
By connecting Bosnia to Croatia’s LNG terminal on the island of Krk, the pipeline wouldn’t solely combine instantly into that of the bloc, but in addition enable US fuel to succeed in a rustic that at the moment depends upon Russia for its total provide.
Earlier this month, Bosnian lawmakers voted to call US-based AAFS Infrastructure and Vitality because the investor and developer of the challenge.
AAFS Infrastructure and Vitality is headed by Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who beforehand labored for Trump and unsuccessfully sought to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, and Joseph Flynn, the brother of Trump’s former adviser Michael Flynn.
Transparency International warned the transfer set a “harmful precedent” and risked “severely undermining the general public curiosity,” by stopping different firms from bidding.
The EU’s ambassador to Bosnia, Luigi Soreca, warned in a letter earlier this month that Bosnia should adhere to accession obligations when passing vitality sector laws and that any amendments have to be submitted to the bloc for overview.
The challenge is estimated to be value round $1.5bn and would additionally embrace the development of gas-fired energy crops aimed toward decreasing coal-based electrical energy manufacturing.
