Brussels - European Union experts gathered in Brussels on Friday to review what measures are needed to deal with what they have described as an "unprecedented" gas crisis sparked by a Russian- Ukranian row. The bloc's gas coordination group confirmed that the EU country most affected by the cut-off of Russian gas arriving via Ukraine is Bulgaria, which now has gas reserves sufficient for only two to three days.
Slovakia, which like Bulgaria is totally reliant on Russian gas arriving to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines, also faces a critical situation, with only enough reserves to last a few weeks.
But by far the most critical situation is faced by non-EU members Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Moldova, which have no reserves left.
Other seriously affected EU countries such as Greece, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland and Romania, either have reserves that can last several weeks or have been able to resort to alternative sources of energy, EU officials said in a statement.
The gas coordination group said short-term measures designed to deal with the crisis include increased production in Norway, the Netherlands and Britain and consumption cuts, as introduced in Bulgaria and Slovakia.
The group also urged member states to assist their neighbours and said the cut in Russian supply demonstrated the need for the EU to develop a more coordinated European response to such crises.
The group's recommendations are to be discussed by EU energy ministers at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday.
