Merkel, Tusk to Discuss Polish 'Energy Union' Proposal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin on Friday to discuss the prospects of an "energy union" proposed by Poland.

Tusk has recently reiterated calls for the establishing of a EU-wide union aimed at reducing energy dependence on Russia.

After holding talks with Tusk in Paris, French President Francois Holland said on Thursday his country would back such plans, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Poland's Prime Minister stressed on Thursday that Europe should be prepared for the worst scenario.

In his words, Warsaw was taking steps to respond in case of negative developments, for example to a "refugee tide" from Ukraine, but asked whether the world was prepared for "an act of aggression" or "a collapse of the Ukrainian state".

Janusz Reiter, a former Polish Ambassador to Berlin, was later quoted by Deutschlandfunk as saying that "for the first time in 25 years" there was a sense in Poland that "security is threatened".

A vast part Europe's gas is currently supplied by Russia, with countries like Germany depending on Moscow for about a third of its supplies.