Estonia embraces Caspian gas

TALLINN, Estonia, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Estonia and Azerbaijan share several common interests in the area of energy security through corridors to Europe, the Estonian president said Thursday.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said in an interview with the Trend news agency ahead of a Jan. 12 visit to Azerbaijan that he shared a collective vision on energy issues.

"We have similar views on energy security as a serious challenge in the 21st century," he said.

Ilves said his country would not benefit directly from European plans to diversify its energy sector through expansions to the Ukrainian Odessa-Brody route and the Western-backed Nabucco project, but each was important to the region as a whole.

"These projects are important for ensuring the EU's energy security as a whole and therefore are our priority as well," the president noted.

He noted the European Union planned to move ahead with principles decided at a November energy summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, by holding a meeting on energy routes in the southern areas.

"The Caspian region is one of the main resources the EU has for diversifying its energy supplies," said Ilves. "So in order to discuss the implementation of projects in the region, the EU presidency plans to organize a summit with producer and transit states called the EU Southern Corridor Summit."