KIEV, May 20 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday called for creation of an alliance of European countries that would jointly resist challenges in the event that energy supplies are used as a tool of pressure.

The alliance, similar to NATO, would swiftly respond to a situation similar to what happened in January when European gas supplies had been disrupted due to a standoff between Russia and Ukraine.

???The events, which have taken place on the energy market in January, prove one important thing for the European Union and beyond: one country alone cannot withstand a model of energy security,??? Yushchenko said addressing a summit of Central European leaders in Varna. ???That??™s why the idea of the international coalition on this issue is a pressing matter.???

The idea, which is thought to be also widely supported by Poland, has been earlier this year discussed between Yushchenko and Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Kiev.

Central European countries, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, have been also considering ways to secure their energy supplies following the gas supply disruptions in January.

Ukraine, as well as most of Central European countries, almost entirely depend on Russia for energy supplies that make the region vulnerable to potential supply cutoff.

The issue of energy security has been separately discussed by a group of Central European countries and by GUAM, a regional alliance of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan.

Yushchenko??™s comments at the Central European summit suggest that both regional groups would seek to cooperate in arranging supplies of energy resources from the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe, challenging Russia.

???We together can lay new routes for crude oil and natural gas supplies from the Caspian region,??? Yushchenko said on Saturday in his weekly radio address to the nation. ???In the energy sector, we can help Europe to get rid of dependency??? on Russia.

???Ukraine can give a new impulse to many projects of pan-European importance,??? Yushchenko said, also mentioning the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline that is planned to move Caspian crude via Ukraine to Europe.

Ukraine has long been seeking to build new pipelines that would link its vast gas supply network with Caspian Sea resources bypassing Russia.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and a number of European experts since last year have been quietly working on a natural gas pipeline that would link Georgia and Ukraine via the Black Sea, according to Georgian officials.

These gas supply routes, however, are vehemently opposed by Russia, which fears to lose some of its most lucrative markets in Europe should massive alternative gas supplies become widely available, analysts said. (tl/ez)