What will the Scholz government do on Nord Stream 2
Not only in Germany, but also in the United States and Russia, there are questions about the position of the new German government on Nord Stream 2. Here is what the main exponents of the Scholz-led coalition have said so far. Pierluigi Mennitti's article
The pipeline of discord must become a boomerang for Putin. This is Joe Biden's idea of Nord Stream 2, the second pipeline under the Baltic which should double the direct gas flow from Russia to Germany. Opposed by the US, hindered by its Central-Eastern European partners, the Made in Putin and Schröder project, stubbornly carried out by Angela Merkel, ends up in the cauldron of possible American sanctions, in the event that Moscow embodies Washington's fears by invading Ukraine.
The pipeline is completed and ready for operation. The Russians wanted to have the gas flowed already this year, but they hadn't reckoned with the German bureaucracy. The German federal agency for electricity and communications has in fact suspended the authorization procedure pending the company that will manage its operations to organize itself according to German law to comply with the binding EU directive. A quibble full of diplomatic complications because, among the various steps still necessary, the definitive go-ahead could arrive in the middle of next year and until then many things can still happen.
For example, that the chess game on the Russian-Ukrainian border gets out of hand. And so Biden wants to push Berlin to overturn the condition set to soften its opposition to the pipeline: stop gas distribution if Russia uses its energy sources to blackmail Ukraine. The American president would have talked about it in the bilateral telephone call with Angela Merkel, a few minutes before confronting Putin in the telematic summit. It was the last day in office for the chancellor. From today the snitch passes into the hands of Olaf Scholz. On this specific theme he has so far used two very similar cards: diplomacy and vagueness.
But that the question is back on the table is being reported today by US and German newspapers. And that the pipeline can become a lever in the hands of the West rather than in the hands of Russia is evident from the coincidence between two positions, expressed on both sides of the Atlantic.
From Washington, national security adviser Jake Sullivan stressed that "the fact that gas does not flow inside the pipes means that Nord Stream 2 is not operational and that it cannot be exploited by Putin": and therefore "it is a lever for the West, if Putin wants to see gas flow through that pipeline, may not want to run the risk of invading Ukraine ”. And from Berlin, the new Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck, Green Vice Chancellor, seems to speak the same language: "Nord Stream 2 is not yet authorized, we will still discuss how the situation in Ukraine is evolving and whether the issue of entry into operation of the pipeline can have a relaxing effect ”. he said yesterday at the press conference presenting the new government, alongside a much more prudent and evasive Olaf Scholz.
Who does not believe in a German change of course is the former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, sponsor of the project and behind the scenes maneuvering of important players within the SPD. Interviewed in the Bundestag on the sidelines of Scholz's election, Schröde r ruled out that "Russia has an interest in provoking a war" and urged us not to believe too much in the indiscretions launched by the United States. As for Nord Stream 2, “it is an approved project and will soon come into operation, because it is in the great interest not only of Germany but of the whole of Europe”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/che-cosa-fara-il-governo-scholz-sul-nord-stream-2/ on Wed, 08 Dec 2021 10:47:51 +0000.