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men the federal government, doubts about the completion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project are growing. 2. Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer On Sunday I showed Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) open to sanctions against Russia, including the gas pipeline: “I have always said that Nord Stream 2 is not a project close to my heart, “he told Reuters news agency.” It was always clear to me that the legitimate security interests of the Central and Eastern European countries and Ukraine had to be taken into account. “What happens next depends on the behavior of the Russian side.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had previously made a similar statement. “I don’t expect the Russians to force us to change our stance on Nord Stream 2,” he told “Bild am Sonntag.” Maas also emphasized that stopping the nearly completed gas pipeline would also harm German and European companies: “Anyone demanding this must be aware of the consequences. More than 100 companies from twelve European countries are involved in Nord Stream 2, about half of them from Germany. ”
With their remarks, Kramp-Karrenbauer and Maas are increasing pressure on Russia to help investigate the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexej Navalnyj. Russia denies being involved in the poisoning of the 44-year-old opposition member, but according to Maas there is “a lot of evidence” for it. In the past, the Novichok neurotoxin was in the possession of the Russian authorities and is only accessible to a very small group of people. And government agencies have already used the poison to target former agent Sergei Skripal. If the Russian side does not participate in the investigation of the crime committed against Mr. Navalnyj, that would be another indication of the participation of the State. If it doesn’t go beyond covering up and smoking candles, we have to assume that Russia has something to hide, ”Maas said.
“The project increases dependence on Moscow”
France also supports the German demands to rethink the Nord Stream 2 project. The Secretary of State for Europe, Clément Beaune, underlined this in an interview with this newspaper. “The Navalnyjs poisoning is a test for Europe,” he said shortly before his first visit to Berlin on Monday. “Our reserves compared to the Nord Stream 2 project are known. From our point of view, the project increases the dependence of the EU on Moscow, ”he says. At the same time, France stands in solidarity with Germany in defending itself against the threat of extraterritorial punitive measures by the United States. But ultimately, Nord Stream 2 is about how Europe defends its own interests, especially vis-à-vis Russia.
“European sovereignty has an absolute priority,” says Beaune. Chancellor Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed doubts about the dialogue with Moscow on France Inter radio station on Sunday. “Dialogue with the Russians is not fun,” he said. So far, Foreign and Defense Minister Florence Parly is scheduled to meet with Russia’s Foreign and Defense Ministers on September 14 in Paris. Le Drian declined to say on Sunday whether the match would be canceled. Defense Minister Parly recently said that the first four-way meeting in Moscow in September 2019 had not produced any concrete results.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, called for a three-month embargo on Russia’s oil and gas supplies in response to the Navalnyj poisoning. The freeze on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, also requested by some German politicians, is not enough. Instead, all imports of oil, gas and other important raw materials would have to be cut, “to deprive the Putin regime of the most important source of revenue for its aggressive policies,” Melnyk told the German news agency. Furthermore, Melnyk called for all European investments in Russia to be stopped. “It is time to finally surprise the Kremlin ruler with a violent response,” he stressed. “The vicious poison attack on Navalnyj with chemical weapons of destruction is not just an undisguised death threat to all critics of Putin. It is a slap in the face to the Chancellor, the Federal Government and the German public, who were deliberately humiliated, ”said the Ambassador. Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly shown that he does not care about the earlier reaction from Berlin.
