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The Guardian article: EU risks conflict with US over Balkan gas pipeline
2026-04-23 20:32:48 / BOTA
The EU risks a confrontation with Donald Trump after he tried to block the award of a lucrative gas pipeline contract in the Balkans to a company headed by his personal lawyer.
Brussels has clashed with Trump over trade, Ukraine and military spending, but the intervention in the Southern Connection pipeline project appears to mark the first time it has challenged a trade venture by those close to the president.
The Guardian writes that the pipeline will pass through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under what Bosnian sources say have been months of pressure from US officials, its leaders have moved quickly to award the contract to a previously little-known Wyoming-based company.
AAFS Infrastructure and Energy was incorporated last November and has not disclosed its owners. It is led by two key members of Trump’s campaign to overturn his 2020 election loss: Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who defended him against charges of inciting riots at the Capitol after his defeat, and Joe Flynn, the brother of the president’s former national security adviser.
Despite the lack of any visible track record, AAFS is planning to invest $1.5 billion in pipelines and other Bosnian infrastructure projects. In March, lawmakers passed legislation that Transparency International said would set a dangerous precedent, stipulating that the contract must go to AAFS without a tender.
Days later, Brussels’ representative in Sarajevo issued a private warning to Bosnian leaders that they were jeopardising the country’s hopes of joining the EU. In a letter sent on 13 April, obtained by Bosnian investigative media outlet istraga.ba and seen by the Guardian, EU official Luigi Soreca wrote that, under an energy deal between Bosnia and Brussels, it was essential that draft laws be fully coordinated with the EU.
"In this way, Bosnia and Herzegovina can continue to progress on its European path and avoid losing opportunities for further integration, as well as financial opportunities," he said.
Binnall has said the pipeline is a priority for the Trump administration. Connecting Bosnia to a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Croatian coast, the pipeline would allow American gas to reach a country that depends on Russia for all of its supplies.
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