With the conflict in Ukraine coming to a head, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is also coming back into focus. Chancellor Scholz does not want to link the “private-sector project” with politics – much to the displeasure of the Greens. The first real traffic light disagreement threatens.
Olaf Scholz will have guessed how his words would be interpreted. An authority in Germany will decide on the operating license for Nord Stream 2 “quite apolitically”. The gas pipeline is “a private-sector project,” said the new Federal Chancellor on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels. There, representatives from countries such as Poland, Latvia and Lithuania had previously made it clear that they would like to see a link between Nord Stream 2 and the newly emerging conflict in Ukraine. Russia has brought up soldiers on the border with its neighboring country, a new escalation threatens.
Although SPD man Scholz may be formally right: The Federal Network Agency decides on approval. His formulations are also close to those of his predecessor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless: the gas pipeline is probably the most controversial project in Europe in recent decades. Above all the USA, which would like to deliver their own liquefied gas to Europe, but also several EU states fear an excessive dependence on Russian gas in Europe. In the event of a conflict, it is feared that one could be blackmailed.
Nord Stream 2 and the first big trouble
The fact that Scholz so clearly weighed the hopes of the small countries in the east caused the first major displeasure in the still young government. In an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”, the Green Federal Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck, made a contradiction in terms to Scholz. Decisions will be made according to the law, but: “Another question is what happens if Russia continues to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the situation escalates.” Any further military aggression could not be without severe consequences. “There can be no prohibition of thinking.”
While the Chancellor is ruling out any connection between the Ukraine crisis and the pipeline, the Minister of Economic Affairs is more or less openly threatening to shut down the project if Russia becomes even more aggressive. It is the first big issue on which the Greens and the SPD live out their differences of opinion so openly.
The green European politician Reinhard Bütikofer was even clearer. “It is derisive that the old wives’ tale of Nord Stream 2 is still being spread as a ‘private-sector’ project,” he told the Tagesspiegel. If there has been “a geostrategically sensitive project” in Europe in the last ten years, then it is the double tube through the Baltic Sea.
Lines of conflict between the SPD and the Greens were clear
It is not new that the Greens and the SPD are at odds here. The pipeline had already been identified as one of the conflict issues in the traffic light when the government was being formed. Green politicians have repeatedly expressed criticism of the project. You are becoming too dependent on the increasingly aggressive Russia. On the other hand, the SPD liked to point out that even at the height of the Cold War, gas from Russia was always reliably arriving in Germany.
So the starting point was clear. But nobody could foresee that the topic would come into focus so quickly. First came the clear verdict in the so-called zoo murder trial during the week. The judge there spoke of Russian “state terrorism”, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock then found very harsh words in the direction of Russia and in fact expelled two diplomats. Add to this the massive increase in tensions in the Ukraine conflict.
At its summit, the EU unanimously threatened Russia with retaliation in the event of an attack on Ukraine. In a joint statement by the heads of state and government, Russia urgently needs to defuse the tensions caused by the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric. Any further military aggression would have “massive consequences and high costs”.
Again and again there is speculation about a possible shutdown of the pipeline for such consequences. Despite the statements made by Scholz, which are very clear for him, that will not be entirely off the table, at least if Russia continues to turn the escalation screw in Ukraine. Especially since two relevant ministries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Foreign Ministry, have recently been in green hands.
Sources: DPA news agency,,
Source From: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
