“Can’t give no thought bans”: Habeck uses Nord Stream 2 as leverage

“Can’t give no thought prohibitions”
Habeck uses Nord Stream 2 as a leverage

Economics Minister Habeck describes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea as a geopolitical mistake. Irrespective of the Federal Network Agency’s approval process, he threatens to halt the project in the event of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

In the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck threatens consequences for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The Greens politician told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the Federal Network Agency would decide on the pending operating permit for the Baltic Sea pipeline from Russia to Germany Law and statute – “as it should be,” added Habeck. “Accordingly, the network and operations must be separated in this pipeline as well, and that is not the case.” The point of competition policy is to prevent monopolies and thus dependencies. Under the old federal government there was a lot of political pressure to approve Nord Stream 2, but the pipeline is still not in operation.

Habeck was open to thinking about Nord Stream 2 again politically. “Another question is what happens if Russia continues to violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the situation escalates.” Any further military aggression could not be without severe consequences. “There can be no prohibition of thinking.” In geopolitical terms, the pipeline has always been a mistake. “All European countries, except Germany and Austria, were always against it.”

Network agency: decision not before mid-2022

After the EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it clear that he sees the operating permit for the controversial gas pipeline and the efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis as separate processes. “With regard to Nord Stream 2, it is a private-sector project,” said the SPD politician on Friday night. For the commissioning of the pipeline, compliance with European law has to be clarified in one aspect. “An authority in Germany decides on this quite apolitically,” emphasized the SPD politician. This is “a different question” than the current efforts to prevent a violation of the Ukrainian borders.

The Baltic Sea pipeline was completed weeks ago. The Federal Network Agency decides on the operating permit. Its president Jochen Homann said on Thursday that a decision on a permit for gas transport would not be decided before mid-2022. The pipeline has long been criticized by the US, but also by some EU countries. They fear that they are too dependent on Russia for energy supplies. 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.

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