Polish FM: Nord Stream 2 is driving a wedge between allies

Despite efforts from Poland, it looks unlikely that German companies will face US sanctions for constructing Nord Stream 2

editor: REMIX NEWS
author: forsal.pl/PAP

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau thanked US Senator Jeanne Shaheen for her engagement in imposing sanctions on Nord Steam 2 and emphasized that the Russian-German pipeline project poses a threat not only to energy security but also relations between allies.

Rau’s tweet was in response to US Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s commentary. On Feb. 12, Shaheen, alongside Republican Senator Jim Risch, filed a motion to President Joe Biden’s administration in which they called for the introduction of sanctions which will block Nord Stream 2’s construction.

Both senators also appealed to the US Department of State to not delay in passing over to US Congress a report necessary for introducing sanctions on legal entities involved in the pipeline’s construction.

Shaheen posted on her efforts concerning stopping the pipeline’s construction on Twitter on Saturday:

On Saturday, the White House announced that the US State Department will decide against imposing new sanctions against Nord Stream 2’s participants. Only the barge Fortuna and its owner KWT-Rus have been entered into the sanction list.

According to Bloomberg, the new US administration has not decided to impose sanctions on any German or Western European companies involved in the project due to a desire to avoid conflict with Berlin.

According to Russian Gazprom, Nord Stream’s main investor, the pipeline is 94 percent complete. It consists of two 1,230-kilometer-long pipes and is expected to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to Germany on an annual basis.

The pipeline’s construction has been strongly opposed by Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic States, and the US. The project’s critics note that it would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and would increase Moscow’s influence on European politics. The pipeline is supported by Germany, Austria and a few other EU states.


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