One of the main national and geopolitical problems of Bulgaria is its almost complete energy dependence on Russia. This problem has been raised these days in the context of strong confrontation between Moscow and the West, and of worsened relations of Sofia with the Kremlin. It is not for nothing that last week, during a visit he paid to Sofia US Secretary of State John Kerry made central to his talks with the Bulgarian leaders exactly this issue and vowed firm support from Washington for this country's efforts to diversify its energy supplies. It is clear that for the USA it is unacceptable to tolerate a situation in which one of its NATO allies in the strategic Balkan Peninsula is strongly dependent on Russia's will, interests and sentiments.

Most probably for this reason while in Sofia, the top diplomat of the USA made a public statement in which he gave special attention to economic issues that do not typically belong to political diplomacy: the failed South Stream project, Bulgaria's energy expertise and the country's cooperation with Westinghouse in nuclear energy. Without an explicit mention, it is quite clear that John Kerry and America see shale gas as one solution to Bulgaria's energy woes.

This position of the United States has been known for some time, and a few years ago that country even tried, though without success, to assist Bulgaria in developing its own shale gas deposits with some of the biggest American companies in the sector. Back then the government in Sofia, and most Bulgarians said NO to American aspirations for shale gas prospecting fearing it could cause irreversible damage to the natural environment and agriculture in some of the country's most fertile regions.

 
Further proof that the current strong opposition to shale gas prospecting put up by Bulgaria has been approached in an attempt to be revised can be found in the statements of former Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov, leader of ABV, the coalition partner of the ruling party GERB. A few days ago he raised the issue of shale gas demanding a national referendum.  
 
In principle, Bulgarian governments are not fond of referenda and the latest one on nuclear energy was turned into a farce after it came up with a rather ambiguous question. This happened during the term of the first government of Boyko Borissov. We are still to see whether now, as Borissov leads a second cabinet he will decide that shale gas is worth of a referendum. Anyway, Borissov has already opened Pandora's Box and shall have to find a way to appease the fears of Bulgarians, of the western partners and of influential local environmentalists. To cut a long story short, it is an indisputable fact that this country needs energy independence and diversification of energy sources.  
 
English Daniela Konstantinova