V4 Urges EU for Joint Gas Reserves After Iran Crisis

Iranian Shock Shakes European Markets

American-Israeli attacks on Iran, launched in late February 2026, have triggered the biggest energy shock since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes on Persian Gulf infrastructure and effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz — a maritime artery through which nearly a fifth of the world's oil exports and roughly 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade flows. The Qatari state-owned company QatarEnergy suspended operations at its LNG terminals and declared force majeure on contracted deliveries.

European gas prices reacted with an unprecedented jump: the TTF benchmark soared by more than 50 percent in a matter of days, reaching its highest levels since 2023. According to Goldman Sachs estimates, a month-long closure of the strait could drive gas prices in Europe up by as much as 130 percent, reports Euronews.

European Storage Dangerously Empty

The conflict comes at a particularly inopportune time. Europe entered March 2026 with gas storage facilities filled to only roughly 30 percent — significantly below the five-year average of around 41 percent for the same time of year. Germany reported storage levels at 21 percent, France around 21 percent. Storage facilities are 14 billion cubic meters emptier than at the same time last year, notes the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.

Bruegel analysts emphasize that the coordination tools introduced during the energy crisis of 2022–2023 — including European coordination of storage filling — must be maintained and strengthened, not dismantled.

Slovakia Back in the Risk Zone

The situation is particularly sensitive for Slovakia. According to Bloomberg, Slovenský plynárenský priemysel (SPP) has signed an amendment to its contract with Gazprom, which will ensure that 100 percent of the company's consumption is covered by Russian gas from April 2026 — delivered via Turkey and Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline. This is a radical reversal from last year, when the share of Russian gas in SPP's portfolio fell to around 33 percent after the cessation of transit through Ukraine.

Together with Hungary and Slovenia, Slovakia remains in the category of EU countries with the highest dependence on Russian supplies. This one-sided dependence is at the heart of the Slovak officials' argument: relying on a single source — whether it's called Gazprom or QatarEnergy — is unsustainable from an energy security perspective.

V4 Call: Joint Storage for the Region

The Visegrad Four (V4) — Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic — traditionally advocates for diversification of sources, suppliers, and transit routes. The Iranian conflict has added urgency to this agenda. The prime ministers of the V4 countries have called on the European Commission to expedite negotiations on the creation of joint strategic natural gas storage facilities for the Central European region — a principle analogous to NATO's collective defense applied to energy security.

While the EU has a regulation on filling gas storage facilities with binding targets for individual member states, Central European countries have historically failed to meet the set criteria and each has approached storage policy individually. A common regional framework could respond to supply disruptions more quickly and cost-effectively, according to the Institute for Central Europe.

Long-Term Response: Less Dependence, More Renewables

Analysts warn that the Iranian shock must not lead to a renewed deepening of dependence on fossil fuels — neither Russian nor Qatari. "Europe's exposure to geopolitical shocks stems from its continued dependence on imports of fossil fuels traded on volatile global markets," writes Bruegel. The solution is not to slow down the energy transition, but to accelerate the deployment of clean, domestically produced energy sources.

For Slovakia, this means a double challenge: in the short term, to ensure sufficient gas supplies for the winter of 2026/2027, and at the same time to systematically reduce dependence on a single supplier. The V4 initiative may be a first step — but without a more ambitious energy transition, Central Europe will remain hostage to every new geopolitical shock.