Monday, March 27, 2023
 
 

Irked Merkel rips US Nord-Stream-2 sanctions

Germany backs off counter-sanctions for now

- Advertisement -

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly criticised US sanctions on companies constructing the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany but noted that Berlin is not planning to impose counter-sanctions.

“I see no other option but to talk … we do not approve of this practice of extraterritorial sanctions,” she told German lawmakers on 18 December referring to legislation passed by the US Senate a day earlier.

The sponsors of the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019 (PEESA) – filed on May 14, 2019 by Senators Ted Cruz, John Barrasso, and Tom Cotton, the so-called anti-Nord Stream-2 – bill managed to have some elements of that bill added to the big US Defense NDAA bill, the US National Defense Authorization Act,” Chris Weafer, co-founder of Macro-Advisory in Moscow, wrote in a note to investors on 19 December. “But the action is too late and while further complicating the project, that will only mean a delay rather than a suspension,” he added.

Weafer said tougher measures are expected. “There is already speculation in Washington that this amendment may be followed with a tough bill targeting the use of the pipeline and, possibly, the end use of the gas,” he said, adding that whether that succeeds or fails may depend on how angry Berlin is over the measure and what countermeasures it is prepared to put in place.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reportedly called sanctions unacceptable, adding that European energy policy is decided in Europe, not in Washington.

Senator Cruz tweeted on 18 December that he and Senator Ron Johnson put Nord Stream-2 pipelayer Allseas on formal legal notice. When US President Donald J. Trump signs into law the NDAA and Cruz’s bill to stop the pipeline, “Allseas risks crippling sanctions,” Cruz wrote.

Nord Stream-2 would not comment on US sanctions. “As far as the legislation on sanctions in the US is concerned, it is an ongoing procedure on which are not in the position to comment on,” Nord Stream-2 representative Sebastian Sass told New Europe on 19 December.

Currently the Nord Stream-2 pipeline is 80% completed and work has already started in the Danish section after the government in Copenhagen granted approval in late October. Further progress will be slow, irrespective of the sanctions, through the winter months due to weather conditions and environment regulations. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said recently that he remains confident the pipeline will be operational “no later than mid-2020”.

Ukrainian gas transit talks

The Nord Stream-2 pipeline is spearheaded by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and bypasses Ukraine, which relies on transit fees for the supply of Russian gas to Europe.

On 19 December, high-ranking officials from Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission are meeting in Berlin for another round of trilateral political gas talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 19 December during his annual marathon press conference that Moscow planned to keep gas transit via Ukraine despite of the Russian-backed pipelines bypassing the former Soviet republic. “We will look for a solution that is acceptable for all parties, including Ukraine. That’s despite the construction of infrastructure such as Nord Stream-1, Nord Stream-2, TurkStream. We will preserve gas transit through Ukraine,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

The US is looking to decrease Europe’s reliance on Russian gas and at the same time increase exports of US liquified natural gas (LNG) to Europe. The European Energy Security and Diversification Act was passed by the House on 17 December as part of a spending deal to avoid a government shutdown. “In the budget is the European Energy Security and Diversification Act, legislation I wrote to create a $1 billion fund to finance energy projects that make Europe independent of Russian oil and gas,” US Senator Chris Murphy wrote in a tweet on 17 December. “An example of how non-military tools can advance national security,” he added.

Sanctions could push Germany into buying more US LNG but some politicians have proposed to stop public funding for LNG projects in response to US sanctions, which could undermine the European Commission’s strategy for liquefied natural gas.

follow on twitter @energyinsider

 

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Co-founder / Director of Energy & Climate Policy and Security at NE Global Media

Latest

Africa’s porous borders promote transnational crimes rather than deeper integration

For positive continental regimes to succeed, there must be both conscious and concerted efforts, as well as political will, from all states to help eliminate transnational crimes while fostering integration across the whole of Africa through trade.

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the...

EU-Turkey earthquake relief conference: Time to get serious

The European Union is hosting a reconstruction conference in...

Cambodia’s current government is the face of tropical Fascism

There is no hope that the authoritarianism that the world sees in places like Russia, China and Cambodia can ever be interpreted as a peaceful and benign phenomenon, or that it should be accepted by an implicit racist or discriminatory assumption that some cultures just don’t have a democratic tradition and aren’t quite capable of ever developing one.

Don't miss

Africa’s porous borders promote transnational crimes rather than deeper integration

For positive continental regimes to succeed, there must be both conscious and concerted efforts, as well as political will, from all states to help eliminate transnational crimes while fostering integration across the whole of Africa through trade.

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the...

EU-Turkey earthquake relief conference: Time to get serious

The European Union is hosting a reconstruction conference in...

Cambodia’s current government is the face of tropical Fascism

There is no hope that the authoritarianism that the world sees in places like Russia, China and Cambodia can ever be interpreted as a peaceful and benign phenomenon, or that it should be accepted by an implicit racist or discriminatory assumption that some cultures just don’t have a democratic tradition and aren’t quite capable of ever developing one.

Energy supply diversification out of Russia’s orbit is a top priority for Bulgaria

Bulgaria intends to diversify its energy resources, including supplying...

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the Kazakh Parliament, on March 19, following major constitutional reforms, which most...

Energy supply diversification out of Russia’s orbit is a top priority for Bulgaria

Bulgaria intends to diversify its energy resources, including supplying the country’s main refinery in Burgas - the largest in the Balkans - with non-Russian...

Georgia has shown the world that a Kremlin project can be defeated

Over the past few days, the world’s attention was on Georgia. We saw massive protests fueled by anger, concerns and fear, and eventually, we...

Putin’s New START withdrawal has broad implications

Vladimir Putin continues to persuade Russians that the West provoked his imperialist war of aggression against Ukraine. His announcement that he would no longer...

Energy-strapped Germany sets ambitious 30 GW offshore wind target by 2030

Germany, which has been struggling to fill its massive energy gap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reduction of natural gas deliveries, is planning...

Providing Ukraine with advanced Western fighters is a logical step towards battlefield success

While Ukraine may have weathered the storm of Russia’s initial onslaught and retaliated with a force and determination largely thought to have been beyond...

Georgia, Romania mull Black Sea undersea power cable to supply CEE Europe

Georgia, which is a transit country for oil and gas routes, is spearheading efforts to launch a very ambitious project that would create a corridor for green energy from the Caspian to the Balkans and CEE.

A Belarusian politician, fraudster and businessman kept money in Credit Suisse

It was the last summer day of 2008. An Audi was waiting in line to leave Belarus for Poland. Petr Kalugin, a House of Representatives deputy,...