Bulgaria has to decide whether to finish the construction of the Russian-made nuclear power plant Belene, which was started in the 1980s and halted in 1990 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The stakes are high, and not just for Bulgaria. A positive decision would make Belene the first Russian-built atomic energy facility within the borders of the EU.

For Europe, the Bulgarian decision on Belene has important implications. One way or the other, there will be substantial effects on the Bulgarian and South East European electricity markets, a great symbolic effect on the "nuclear renaissance" in Europe, and geopolitical effects in terms of relations with Russia and the US. It will also be interesting to see whether the Belene case will become included in the EU's newly proposed External Energy Policy - if this ever gets off the ground.

European Energy Review published an article on the topic by Atanas Georgiev, executive editor of Publics.bg