Disputes between the federal government and the USA over the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline have subsided and are now threatening to move forward completely. There is a possibility of US sanctions against Germany.
Disputes between the federal government and the US administration under the president Joe Biden Nearly completed pipeline Nord stream 2 Threatens to move on completely. Germany Request rejected America After a construction freeze, according to “Spiegel” information, the federal government is also refusing to negotiate with the Americans about the controversial project.
The US government is not willing to compromise on this issue, according to “Spiegel”, leaving hardly any effort for the US to implement the sanctions. “The Germans have to understand how serious this issue is for us,” an adviser to Biden told the news magazine. The US President is set to discuss the sensitive issue with Chancellor Angela Merkel. It makes no sense, “if he only listens in the end: no, no, no”.
The federal government disappointed with Biden
The federal government is unlikely to make any concessions on this national question, and Berlin is disappointed by the difficult course taken by the Biden government. “We expect more from the restart of transatlantic relations,” said Peter Baird, the federal government’s coordinator for transatlantic relations, “Spiegel”.
Since Biden’s election victory in November, the federal government has been considering how to position itself on Nord Stream 2. Because resistance against unpopular predecessor Donald Trump was very easy. And the relief about the new US administration and its multilateral approach is so great that no one wants to bear the burden of as much cooperation as possible.
“We will need gas for the transition period”
But the Berlin coalition and most state governments stuck to their support for the billion-dollar and more than 95 percent completed project to bring more Russian gas to Western Europe and which included many European companies. Chancellor Angela Merkel, Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmeier and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas have repeatedly emphasized this since Biden took office. The central argument is that supply security as an industrial location for Germany should be secured if coal and nuclear power run out at the same time.
“We will not need gas produced in Germany for a transitional period. We must protect geopolitical interests Ukraine Through this private sector project our energy supply is guaranteed and safe, ”the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, CDU boss Armin Lashet told Reuters.
His colleagues in the East, in Lower Saxony and in Bavaria, think the same way. Both Laskett and Maas also state that America itself is in crude oil. Russia Shopping – So Washington’s criticism is inconsistent anyway. Furthermore, one rejects the United States’ extra-territorial sanctions against a project in Europe for reasons of principle.
Search for a “face-saving” solution
Weeks earlier in Berlin had already discussed what methods there might be for a “face-saving” solution: First, another Ukraine could get an assurance that it would transit westward to Russian gas along Nord Stream 2. Its status as a country will not change. Either one loses. However, it has been reported that the European Union and Germany have already negotiated a new gas contract between the country and Gazprom.
The president of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, also proposed a possible stoppage of deliveries from Russia in the event of a crisis. It is also conceivable that Germany would prove to be an exemplary extravaganza with greater commitment in other areas. Eventually, the government has just announced that it intends to send a frigate to the Indo-Pacific in August that will also sail through the South China Sea. Berlin is also behind EU sanctions against China due to action against the Muslim Uyghur minority – although it caused tension in German-Chinese relations and led to the sanctions. Both are gestures towards Washington.
It is unlikely that the federal government could repeat a proposal made in 2020 to focus more on the expansion of LNG technology so that American liquefied gas could also be introduced to please Washington. In a democratically new administration, unlike Trump himself, there are considerable reservations about the gas being fired, it is said in government circles.
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