German leaders object to U.S. interference in Europe’s internal affairs.
Nord Stream 2 is a $9.5bn pipeline that would bring natural gas directly from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The project aims to double gas capacity from Russia along the northern Nord Stream 1 pipeline route to Germany. About 2100km of the pipe has already been laid, with only 300km still remaining.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Friday that included provisions to impose sanctions on companies laying pipe for Nord Stream 2. The sanctions form part of the National Defence Authorisation Act for 2020, which mandates Mr Trump to punish companies that provide vessels for the installation of deep-sea pipeline for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.
The main goal of the legislation is Allseas, a Swiss contractor that specialises in laying offshore pipelines. Allseas chief executive Edward Heerema has already received a letter calling for an immediate halt to its work for Russia and Gazprom. Today, Allseas issued a statement confirming that it was suspending its pipe laying activities for Nord Stream 2 and was waiting for “the necessary legal, technical and environmental clarification from the relevant US authority”. However, the company assured that it would work with others on finishing the pipeline as soon as possible, since this project was “essential for European supply security.”
Both Russian administration and the Nord Stream 2 AG operating company say the project will be completed, regardless of the US sanctions.
A spokeswoman for the German chancellor Angela Merkel said she “regretted” the US move and “rejected such extraterritorial sanctions”. Ulrike Demmer said: “They affect German and European companies and represent interference in our internal affairs.”
“Such sanctions are a serious interference in the internal affairs of Germany and Europe and their sovereignty. We firmly reject this,” said Germany’s finance minister and vice chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to German broadcaster ARD.
“It is now up to the companies involved in the construction of the pipeline to make the next decisions. It is clear to us that we will not accept the imposition of such a sanction, and we will make this clear to the American government.”
– Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister and vice chancellor
Today Russia and Ukraine have concluded a landmark agreement that will ensure Russian gas transit through Ukraine even after Nord Stream 2 is completed. Under the new agreement, Russia’s Gazprom, which supplies over a third of Europe’s gas needs, would use an agent to book the transit of 225 billion cubic metres (bcm) of the fuel via Ukraine over five years. Of the total, 65 bcm would be shipped in 2020, falling to 40 bcm in 2021 and in each of the subsequent years.
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