Turkey, EU agree on Nabucco

BRUSSELS, May 11 (UPI) -- Turkey and the European Union reached a "breakthrough" agreement on the Nabucco natural gas pipeline without conditions, officials said.

The Czech Republic hosted a regional summit in Prague last week on the so-called Southern Corridor, a network of energy transit routes that includes the heralded Nabucco gas pipeline.

Turkey would host a major portion of the 2,050-mile pipeline. Ankara said in April it was waiting for European decisions on the pipeline, with a deal expected in June.

European officials told The Guardian newspaper the deal was now expected June 25.

"This is a complete breakthrough," an unnamed official involved in the Turkish negotiations told the newspaper. "The Turks have accepted our terms. There is no conditionality."

Nabucco negotiations were complicated by Turkey's efforts at joining the ranks of the EU and its demands for a portion of the gas traveling through the pipeline. European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told The Guardian, however, that Ankara's demand for 15 percent of the gas is gone.

Europe sees Nabucco as the answer to its energy diversification efforts. The $10.7 billion pipeline would bring gas supplies from Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe without using Russian resources or its territory.