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EXCLUSIVE:The European Unions flagship energy project will prop up a rogues gallery of authoritarian governments responsible for a string of human rights abuses, while not improving gas supply security, civil societyorganisations have warned.

Turkey, Algeria, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and other potential suppliers in the Middle East and Africa were named in yesterdays (25 February) Commission communication on Energy Union. EurActiv understands that Iran and Iraq is also part of the Commissions long-term thinking, as it searches for alternative suppliers of gas to Russia.

The security situation in many of the countries, due to terrorist groups like ISIS and war in statessuch asIraq and Libya, was so unreliable that it made a mockery of the idea they could deliver stable supplies, campaigners said.

Speaking exclusively to EurActiv, Maro efovi, the Commission Vice-President for Energy Union, denied new supply contracts would entrench dictatorships. He argued that a gradual approach to negotiations would yield progress on human rights.

By cooperating with such countries and not simultaneously and publicly condemning their human rights' violations, the EU is essentially giving the green light for abuses to continue, Iverna McGowan, of Amnesty International, said.

Plans for the Energy Union, the EUs response to its dependence on energy imports, especially Russian gas, were launched yesterday (25 February) in Brussels.The paper highlighted the need to increase the number of energy suppliers, to prevent shortages such as those caused in the EU by Russia turning off the taps in 2009.

>>Read: Will EU states play ball on Energy Union?

The EU will use all its foreign policy instruments to establish strategic energy partnerships with increasingly important producing and transit countries or regions, the Energy Union paper read.

Asked why doing business with anti-democratic countries was better than doing business with Russia, Energy and Climate Action Commissioner MiguelAriasCaete stressed the EU would still buy Russian gas.

Russia will continue to be a partner of European Union and will continue to be a big supplier of the European Union," he told reporters at a press conference.

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Energy Union a green light for human rights abusers, warn NGOs