Germany Puts Its Head in Russia’s Energy Pipeline Noose
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her refusal to increase defense spending while at the same time supporting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will funnel billions of dollars to Russia.
Germany Puts Its Head in Russia’s Energy Pipeline Noose
Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute | December 30, 2019
A Swiss company working on the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline directly linking Russia to Germany has suspended pipelaying operations after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed into law new sanctions.
The sanctions are part of an effort by the United States to halt completion of the €9.5 billion ($10.5 billion) pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea. Opponents of the pipeline warn that it will give Russia a stranglehold over Germany’s energy supply. Proponents counter that with European domestic natural gas production in rapid decline, the pipeline will enhance security of supply.
American sanctions may delay Nord Stream 2, but they are probably too late to kill the project. More than 80% of the 1,230-km (764-mile) pipeline has already been laid and the project is expected to be completed in 2020, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.
