Nord Stream 2 is a ‘major item of leverage’ against Russia: Ex-German ambassador
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Gazprom PJSC Slavyanskaya compressor stations, which is also the beginning point for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Ust-Luga Russia on Thursday January 28, 2021, sees a worker adjust a pipeline valve.
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Russia will lose tens of billions of dollars if a pipeline project to transport gas to Germany is abandoned — and that threat is something that Europe can use to pressure Moscow, according to a former German ambassador to the U.S.
Wolfgang Ischinger is the chairman of Munich Security Conference. He stated that the pipeline could be a key item of leverage.
Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline that links Russia and Germany. It will be able to transport 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas each year to Europe if regulators approve it. Because it doesn’t go through Ukraine and Poland who have vocally opposed it, it is contentious. The project also has become a subject of geopolitical debate.
Meanwhile, U.S. allies and European counterparts have become alarmed at the presence of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. with many experts afraid that Moscow will invadeThe neighbor is its neighbor.
Some European leaders suggest that the pipeline should be added to a potential sanctions list against Russia.
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The ‘Items of leverage’
Ischinger said Tuesday to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble that Russia does not want their traditional revenue source to go.
“Russia will lose, as you know, tens to billions of dollars and euros if we must shut down the pipeline project,” he stated. Russia will not allow that to happen.
Around 43% of Europe’s total gas imports come from Russia,Eurostat. Ischinger indicated that it would be painful for Europe not to allow Russia to continue to import gas, which could lead to more energy insecurity. However, Moscow should be prepared to take retaliatory action if Russia increases its military activities.
This is leverage. I think Russia definitely has an interest to continue its income sources from providing gas and oil … to its western European partners,” he said. We must manage it with care, but also smartly.
Germany: Bolder words
It is crucial to pay attention to the change in the political tone that Germany has brought about, which will be the Nord Stream 2’s final destination. Angela Merkel, former Chancellor, resigned in December following 16 years at power. Her relationship with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was more warm than that of many Western counterparts. Merkel supported the pipeline in 2021 and called U.S. sanctions against it “not okay.”
Germany’s new leadership is taking a very different position. Annalena Baerbock, the country’s foreign minister, has stated that Germany can not approve the current version of the pipeline. She said in December, “as it stands, this pipeline cannot been approved as is.”
Maximilian Hess, a fellow at Foreign Policy Research Institute, said, “Asserting instead of implying Germany’s international policy leverage on this issue is a seachange from the approach taken under Merkel,”. Baerbock also mentioned concerns about Ukraine and EU energy law, which Hess claims “will appeal to pipeline’s critics from Washington and the EU’s east.”
It’s unclear where the German government stands regarding the issue, so the position isn’t yet finalized. Hess said that there is still uncertainty about the potential resistance from the German industrial sector and the unity of the coalition on the matter, which they did not mention in their coalition program.
— CNBC’s Silvia Amaro and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
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