BERLIN — Germany on Tuesday put on ice the
controversial
Nord Stream 2 pipeline in response to Moscow's recognition of two
breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, finally halting the 10-billion-euro
project that has long irked allies.
اضافة اعلان
Berlin had over the years doggedly pursued the pipeline
which was set to double natural gas import capacity from
Russia, despite
opposition from the United States and Eastern Europe which fear it would leave
the continent too dependent upon Russian energy.
Through controversies that had weighed on
German-Russian
ties — from the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to several spying
scandals to a series of cyberattacks, the German government had pushed on with
the project, which was finally completed last year and was awaiting regulatory
approval.
But hours after Putin's decision on recognizing separatists
in eastern
Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday he had asked
for the approval process to be halted, despite a severe energy crisis that has
sent gas prices soaring in Europe.
"That sounds technical, but it is the necessary
administrative step so there can be no certification of the pipeline and
without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot begin operating," he
said.
The White House immediately hailed the decision, while
Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba called it "a morally, politically,
and practically correct step in the current circumstances".
Meanwhile
Dmitry Medvedev, vice president of Russia's
council of security said Germany was just shooting itself in the foot.
"The German chancellor Olaf Scholz has asked to suspend
the certification of Nord Stream 2, ... well, welcome to the new world where
Europeans will soon pay 2,000 euros for 1,000 cubic meters of gas," he
tweeted.
Rising tensions
Germany's ambivalent attitude on Nord Stream 2 had long been
a source of friction with allies.
Even as Russia massed over 100,000 troops on Ukraine's
borders,
Scholz refused to utter the name of the pipeline when asked about
possible sanctions against Russia.
Former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's involvement as
chairman of the Nord Stream AG shareholders committee has also become a source
of embarrassment for Germany as the West faces off with Russia in the worst
crisis since the Cold War.
The mixed messaging over the gas pipeline had led
NATO partners, including the United States, to question if Germany was on board as
the West sought to hold off what it viewed as an expansionist Russia.
With doubts swirling, German ministers found themselves
forced to reiterate repeatedly that they would indeed pull the plug on the
pipeline should Russia march on Ukraine.
Kyiv, in conflict with
Russia since Moscow's 2014 annexation
of Crimea, has long been a critic of Nord Stream 2.
The pipeline bypasses Ukraine's own infrastructure,
depriving it of around a billion euros annually in gas transit fees and, Kyiv
fears, removing a key check on potential Russian aggression.
President
Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Nord Stream 2
poses a serious global security threat.
"We view this project exclusively through the prism of
security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin,"
he said last year.
Running from Russia's Baltic coast to northeastern Germany,
the 1,200km underwater Nord Stream 2 follows the same route as Nord Stream 1,
which was completed over a decade ago.
Like its twin, Nord Stream 2 would be able to pipe 55
billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Europe, increasing the
continent's access to relatively cheap natural gas at a time of falling
domestic production.
Russian giant Gazprom has a majority stake in the 10-billion-euro
project. Germany's Uniper and Wintershall, France's Engie, the Anglo-Dutch firm
Shell and Austria's OMV are also involved.
Europe's top economy imports around 55 percent of its gas
from Russia — up from 40 percent in 2012 — and believed the pipeline has a role
to play in the transition away from coal and nuclear energy.
But it will now have to accelerate its build up of other
energy sources — including importing LNG from elsewhere — in order to meet its
energy needs.
Vice-Chancellor and Energy Minister Robert Habeck admitted
on Tuesday that there will be "consequences in terms of energy policy,
geopolitics and strategy" for Germany.
"We will not forget this winter anytime soon,"
Habeck said.
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