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The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwesig, spoke with the Prime Minister of East Germany in favor of completing Nord Stream 2. In the Bundestag it is criticized.
East German heads of government voted unanimously in favor of the completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. The project is important for the energy supply of the future in Germany and Europe, according to a document that the six prime ministers unanimously approved at a meeting in Berlin on Friday. In the Bundestag, however, there was a dispute over the project.
The pipeline is supposed to deliver natural gas from Russia
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is intended to supply Russian natural gas to the German and European markets. In Lubmin near Greifswald (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) it should reach the German mainland. The line is almost complete. Russian natural gas already flows through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which also lands in Lubmin.
The pipeline has been controversial for years. Several EU countries fear being overly dependent on energy imports from Russia. In the spring, the US imposed sanctions on companies involved in the project to ensure construction work was halted. There is currently a dispute over whether the project should be stopped as a sanction against Russia in the case of poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
“For a safe and reliable power supply”
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) promoted the project on several fronts on Friday. The completion of the Baltic Sea pipeline remains correct and sensible, it was said after the meeting of East German prime ministers. “I am very happy that the eastern German states have come out in favor of completing the pipeline. We need them for a safe and reliable power supply,” said Schwesig.
Berlin’s ruling mayor Michael Müller (SPD), who is currently chairing the Eastern Ministerial Conference, said gas will remain important for at least a transition period. “It is a project that plays a crucial role in our change in energy and climate policy, and that is why we came to the conclusion that we want to continue it.” Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) emphasized: “It is economically necessary for us, but it is also necessary that we stand together with Russia.”
The left accuses the Greens of lobbying
Schwesig was also there on Friday when the Bundestag debated the motions of the Greens and AfD on Nord Stream 2. The Greens demanded “that the federal government immediately distance itself from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and prevent its completion by taking appropriate measures.” The AfD demanded from the government a commitment to the pipeline and a speedy completion.
Dietmar Bartsch: Accuses the Greens of lobbying. (Source: Metodi Popow / imago images)
The leader of the left-wing parliamentary group, Dietmar Bartsch, accused the Greens of lobbying for expensive and dirty fracking gas from the United States. Nord Stream 2 benefits both Europe and Germany. The Greens’ external expert Jürgen Trittin responded that a representative from the left was publicly standing to the applause of the AfD and declaring that Germany made sovereign decisions on its energy policy. “Energy policy is European in the common internal market, I should have learned it!” Shouted Trittin Bartsch.
Schwesig accused the Greens of irresponsibility. “For a party that would like to take responsibility for the government, I would like to see more complaints,” he said. Nord Stream 2 is not just a Russian project. It is worth “billions, 97 percent has already been completed,” the prime minister said.
