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The Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is almost complete. The United States wants to tear down the unpopular project in the final yards. The EU is fighting for independence on both sides.
Moscow is serious. Despite renewed threats of US sanctions.
Russian ships have begun to lower the last kilometers of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. This means that not only the completion of the gigantic 9.5 billion euro project is around the corner, but also the end of the geopolitical conflict between Russia, the United States and Europe related to the gas pipeline. The United States and some Eastern European countries are still determined to stop the project shortly before it reaches its goal. What is at risk? Does Europe need this gas pipeline or is it making the continent dangerously dependent on the Kremlin? And what role does Austria play in this? “Die Presse” seeks answers to the most important questions.
1) What is Nord Stream 2? Why is the pipeline being built?
Nord Stream 2 is a 1,230 kilometer long underwater oil pipeline from Vyborg in Russia through the Baltic Sea to Lubmin in Germany. The pipeline runs parallel to the current Nord Stream 1 and is expected to bring around 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to the EU each year. The operating company is wholly owned by Russia’s state-owned Gazprom. Five Western European energy groups (including OMV) are on board as donors. Originally, direct participation was planned for financial contribution. However, the plan failed due to opposition from the Polish antitrust authorities. For Moscow, Nord Stream 2 is above all an opportunity to secure business with its best gas customer, Europe, for years to come. At the same time, the new transportation route will be used to reduce gas deliveries through Ukraine. The conflicts between Kiev and Moscow in recent years have repeatedly caused the problem of transit fees. Threats of sanctions from the United States had put the project on hold for the last time for a year. Currently, only six kilometers of pipeline need to be installed to complete Nord Stream 2. But the pipeline is still under political fire.
2) Why is there an argument? Who is opposed to the construction of the new gas pipeline to Europe?
The project has many critics inside and outside Europe, with very different interests. The United States, the loudest opponent of Nord Stream 2, is being driven by historical distrust of cooperation between Europe and Russia on energy issues. The EU is becoming dependent on the Kremlin, Washington warns, torpedoing the project (and the companies involved) with sanctions. Just a few days ago, the United States Congress tightened: in the future, insurers and companies that inspect and certify tubes will also be excluded from the US market. The attitude will not change much under new US President Joe Biden. His foreign minister, Antony Blinken, has so far been noted as a strict opponent of sanctions, but even a more conciliatory Biden can’t give in too quickly when Republicans and Democrats at home are calling for a hard line against Russia. The United States also has a commercial interest in stopping the project. They would like to deliver more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe themselves, and the competing Russian pipeline is also a thorn in their side economically.
The interests of Eastern European critics like Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine are somewhat different. They also fear billions in transit fees if the previous gas route to Europe is drained. Some successor states to the Soviet Union also warn Brussels, in principle, against being too close to Moscow. After the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Berlin’s support was also in doubt. But only briefly. Because if Germany blocks the pipeline, the affected companies could present billions in damages.
3 Does Europe need the pipeline or is the continent becoming dependent on Vladimir Putin?
Russia is already one of the most important energy suppliers to the EU. In 2018, the Union had to import almost three-quarters of its total natural gas needs. 40 percent of them came from Russia. In Austria, where OMV was the first Western company to sign a gas supply contract with the Soviet Union in 1968, the dependency is even greater. More than 70 percent of all domestic natural gas imports come from Russia. Gas production in Europe is falling and liquefied gas can only replace part of Moscow’s supplies. Therefore, the EU will also need Russian gas in the coming years. But it doesn’t necessarily have to flow through the controversial Baltic Sea tube.
The existing gas pipeline network still offers sufficient capacity, and the Ukrainian pipelines are already nearing the end of their useful life. The risk that a dispute between Kiev and Moscow will again lead to delivery stops and cold deaths in central Europe, as in 2014, is comparatively low. Because the EU has learned from the latest gas crises and, above all, has improved its technology. Eastern European countries no longer depend on the flow of gas from the east. In an emergency, gas can also be supplied from Norway, Algeria, Qatar and the USA from the west.
Nord Stream 2 doesn’t necessarily make the EU more dependent on Russia than it already is today. However, it extends dependency. “In the current economic crisis, Russia is certainly more dependent on Europe than the other way around,” says Stefan Meister, Russia expert at the German Heinrich Böll Foundation. Russia is trying to sell more raw materials in China. But that’s expensive and not an alternative to the EU’s favorite customer. By contrast, Western European countries will not completely give up Russian natural gas, despite the Kremlin’s violations of human and international law. Because Moscow still has a trump card: it is by far the cheapest gas supplier.
