US Confirms Backing for Croatia's LNG Terminal

The US has again declared its strong support for Croatia's planned project to build a floating terminal to receive liquefied natural gas, LNG, on the island of Krk.

The project will help to diversify the gas supply in the country and in the region - currently largely dependent on Russia.

During Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic's visit to Washington on Wednesday, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Aaron Wess Mitchell, said the Krk LNG energy project "enjoys full support" from the US and is seen as one of the "strategic projects" of the US government under President Donald Trump.

Senator Ron Johnson - chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on Europe and regional security cooperation - also stated the interest of both states in the project during his meeting with Bozinovic on Wednesday.

While the US has lent support to the LNG terminal for years, President Trump himself mentioned the project at the summit of the Three Seas Initiative - gathering leaders of European states between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas - in Warsaw in July 2017.

Although it has been talked about for years, the project is still in the pipeline phase, however, and some experts are cautious about the likely effects and benefits of the project, as well as about the competition that Croatia will face in this field.