The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia can’t be certified and launched yet because it doesn’t meet EU energy requirements while safety concerns are still on the table, Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said on Sunday.
The certification process for the pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea bed, was halted in mid-November by Germany’s energy watchdog pointing that Nord Stream 2 operator needs to set up a local subsidiary under European rules which takes time, but is not a big hurdle for the project.
Discussing the fate of the multinational project, the Green politician – who assumed this week her role in the Foreign Ministry – also made it clear that, in line with the agreement between Berlin and Washington, Nord Stream 2 would also not be allowed to operate in the event of any new escalation in Ukraine in a situation of elevated fears of a Russian offensive on the country.
Baerbock ‘s party has openly opposed the pipeline and called for a halt to its construction during the recent election campaign while their coalition social-democratic partners from the SPD have been more reserved in stating their opinion of the project.
Germany’s new SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz has signaled that, apart from the certification hurdles, the fate of the pipeline is directly linked to politics.
During a joint press conference with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, Scholz reiterated Berlin’s commitment and feeling of responsibility to preserving the current transit of gas through Ukraine, for which Ukraine is remunerated with billions of dollars annually by Russia.
Stressing that Nord Stream 2 would secure a steady supply of natural gas for Europe as a whole, Scholz’s predecessor, Angela Merkel, was supportive of the project, linking however the prospects of launching the pipeline with the preservation of the current Ukrainian transit arrangement.
During its construction- which commenced back in 2018 and was completed this September -the Russia pipeline project has faced multiple issues, ranging from the direct pressure and sanctions levied by Washington to the environmental concerns several European nations have raised.
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