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While the Greens have long rejected the gas pipeline to Russia, new gaps are opening up within the Union. The FDP agrees. The SPD and the left are firmly committed to the project.
In Germany, the debate continues on the consequences of the poisoning of the Russian opponent Alexej Navalny. Numerous politicians, especially from the Greens, the FDP and the Union, are calling for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany to be stopped, including the candidates for the CDU presidency, Norbert Röttgen and Friedrich Merz. The Greens have long rejected the project, not least on foreign policy grounds. Chancellor Angela Merkel, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, and the SPD have so far stuck to it. The left also advocates more construction.
“Fissure for Europe”
At the start of construction in 2019, the head of the Greens Annalena Baerbock told t-online: “The federal government is becoming the stirrup of autocratic President Putin, renewable energy will be thwarted and a gap will be created for Europe.” The Baltic states in particular, but also Ukraine, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Slovakia have strong reservations about the project. They fear the growing Russian influence in Europe and see their security threatened. France had initially blocked the project, But then Germany snatched a compromise.
For a long time, politicians, especially foreign and European politicians from the Union, FDP and Greens of all factions, have criticized the project. CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen has now called on Germany and France to stop acting alone in Russian politics. He told the “Rheinische Post”: “A common European strategy towards Russia can only exist if Germany and France stop doing it alone.” France should no longer depend on a bilateral strategic partnership with Russia.
Schröder is the main lobbyist for the pipeline
“The axis of a common European strategy is not to finish Nord Stream 2,” demanded Röttgen. Germany’s approval of this Russian project was against the vast majority of European partners from the start. In Germany, however, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was the main lobbyist. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nord Stream and Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Nord Stream 2”.
After Nawalny was poisoned, CDU economics expert Friedrich Merz has now also called for a two-year construction freeze. “Until now I have been in favor of the construction of the gas pipeline, despite some concerns,” Merz told the “Bild” newspaper. “But after the poison attack on Navalny, Europe has to react now. I propose an immediate two-year construction freeze, that is, a moratorium.” Russian President Vladimir “Unfortunately, Putin only understands this language.”
The FDP parliamentary group also called for a moratorium until the facts surrounding the attack on Navalny are clarified and the Kremlin is visibly involved. Previously, the vice president of the FDP, Wolfgang Kubicki, had opposed such a demand from his party. On matters of policy towards Russia, however, he is largely isolated within the FDP.
In the view of energy economist Marc Oliver Bettzüge, Nord Stream 2 “is not of existential importance for the security and profitability of gas supply in Germany or Europe” from an energy point of view. According to the model’s calculations, Nord Stream 2 could significantly reduce gas prices in the EU. A gas supply gap would not be a threat without the pipeline, said the professor of economics, energy and sustainability at the University of Cologne from the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
