[ad_1]
© nord-stream2.com
The US State Department has expanded sanctions against companies related to Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2 and given them a month to abandon the two projects. Not only the immediate constructors of the pipelines and their extensions, but also those who provide various services to shipowners and equipment, are now subject to US sanctions.
The United States has made it clear for months that the Boyko Borissov government is not building a Balkan stream, but a continuation of the Turkish stream from Russia, in which it is investing more than BGN 2 billion in Bulgarian taxpayer money.
Washington is now re-clarifying the scope of the European Energy Safety Protection Act (PEESA), and the communication shows that it is already talking about, but not only, activities such as the installation of additional equipment and the modernization of the ships of Turkish Stream, and Nord Stream 2, as well as the provision of funds for such works.
As of October 20 to run a 30-day period for the call. conscious cessation of such activities by these companies, which will also free them from the threat of sanctions.
The new scope of PEESA does not affect the safety services of ships and their crews, as well as their maintenance to avoid accidents with environmental damage. This also applies to the extensions of both pipes.
“The Department of State and the Department of the Treasury of the United States will use the whole set of sanctioning powers to stop the construction of these pipelines” and their possible extensions, according to the statement.
The new measures are partly in line with congressional bills to clarify Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESCA), which is currently being debated in the US parliament. It speaks of sanctioning those who help to “modernize and deploy welding equipment, modify and improve maritime vessels and combine them in tandem.”
-
We continue to call on Russia to end the use of its energy resources for extortion. Russia is using these export pipelines to create national and regional dependencies for Russian energy supplies, using these dependencies to expand its political, economic and military influence, weaken European security. and undermining the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. These pipelines reduce Europe’s energy diversity and therefore weaken European energy security, “the statement said.
The PEESA Act, which came into effect on December 20, 2019, explicitly requires that Congress receive a report from the United States Secretary of State every 90 days, specifying which ships and companies are involved in the two pipelines “or which a project that is a continuation of them “.
When the Secretary of State identifies an alien or foreign company as an infringer, the President of the United States has the legal right to block his ownership and interest in property in the United States or that is controlled by a United States citizen wherever he lives. . Sanctioned individuals are not allowed to enter the United States (and have their visa revoked), be admitted or amnestied by the authorities, or receive any services under immigration law.
At the same time, PEESA allows the president to lift the sanctions, “if it is in the national interest of the United States,” and Congress is informed in detail of his reasons for making such a decision. Because the law does not list the grounds and standards for the exercise of these powers by the president, the White House resident has a wide range of reasons to invoke.
