BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 21 (UPI) -- The Nabucco natural gas pipeline to Europe will top the agenda for talks between German and Azeri officials in Baku, German ministers said.
Europe aims to diversify its natural gas sector by transporting non-Russian supplies through the Nabucco pipeline. The project would move gas from Central Asia and possibly the Middle East, through Turkey and on to Austria.
Russia is pursuing its South Stream gas pipeline through the Balkans and the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany, which is under construction.
Emilia Mueller, the minister for federal and European affairs at the state of Bavaria, Germany, said she plans to discuss the Nabucco project with her Azeri counterparts during a two-day visit to Baku.
"A short while ago, I had talks in Austria at the other end of this pipeline," she told the Trend news agency in Azerbaijan. "Now, I would like to discuss the Nabucco project at its starting point in Azerbaijan."
The Nabucco project faces obstacles in terms of firm commitments from potential supplier nations. A project to ship liquefied natural gas across the Black Sea, meanwhile, could overshadow the project.
Mueller and her accompanying delegation arrived Wednesday in Baku.
