Russian gas: Grünen politician of Notz: Merz should recall negotiators

The deputy chairman of the Greens parliamentary group, Konstantin von Notz, asked CDU boss Friedrich Merz to exclude politicians from the coalition negotiations, which participate in play about the resumption of Russian gas imports. Friedrich Merz must understand how security-politically acute current threats from Russia are for Germany and Europe, said of Notz of the German Press Agency. He added: “If he wants to be credible, he must immediately deduct those who have expressed themselves in the past few days from the respective coalition negotiation teams”.

Criticism of statements by Heinisch and Bareiß

Jan Heinisch, Vice of the CDU parliamentary group in the NRW state parliament and member of the negotiation team, told the political newsletter “Berlin Playbook”: “If one day a fair and safe peace is found, then you have to be allowed to talk about the purchase of Russian gas again”.

Recently, the Baden-Württemberg CDU member of the Bundestag, Thomas Bareiß in the LinkedIn network, reacted to a report by the “Handelsblatt”. It dealt with rumors that the commissioning of Nord Stream 2 could become part of an American-Russian agreement to settle the Ukraine War, possibly with the involvement of a US investor.

Bareiß wrote when peace prevailed again, the relationships normalized that went back or later, “of course gas can flow again, maybe this time in a pipeline under American (sic) control”. This is a decision of the market.

Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation

Pipeline Nord Stream 2 was supposed to bring the gas from Germany’s former most important supplier to Russia across the Baltic Sea. But it never happened. Shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the then traffic light coalition stopped the project.

A CDU spokeswoman had later explained on request: “The speculation about a possible reopening of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline 2 reflect individual opinions and do not correspond to the position of the CDU in Germany. Our firm conviction remains that Germany and Europe must become independent of Russian gas deliveries.”

Green Group Vice Finds the CDU reaction half-heartedly

Von Notz spoke of a half-hearted reaction with which Merz, in his view, at least indirectly made it clear “that the Moscow Connection apparently continues to have a permanent place in the CDU and the future federal government”. He also finds it “irritating” that nothing can be heard about all of this from the SPD.