[ad_1]
It was Germany that discovered that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalni was addicted to the nobichok poison developed by Russian intelligence agencies. A German civil organization took Navalni in critical condition to Berlin and hospitalized him, and the Institute of German Federal Forces detected the nobichok component in his body. Germany is the protagonist in resolving the suspicions surrounding Navalni, but the spark from this incident flows in an unexpected direction when German Prime Minister Angela Merkel rebounds. As a result of this incident, there is pressure to stop the gas pipeline construction project that Merkel has been ambitiously pursuing with Russia.
The project, called ‘Nortstream 2’, consists of building a 1,225 km subsea gas pipeline from Narva in western Russia, through the Baltic Sea, to Greifswald in northern Germany. Construction started in 2018, and 90% of the current construction has been completed, and when completed by the end of this year, Russian natural gas will be supplied to Germany starting next year. The transport volume is 55 billion m3 per year, which is a quarter of the European demand for natural gas.
The reason Merkel has been working on this project is to use Russian natural gas as a stable alternative energy source until new and renewable energy is properly established in Germany, which chose post-nuclear power plants. In addition, Merkel plans to charge transportation fees by connecting land transportation pipelines to help Russia sell natural gas to the Czech Republic, Austria and Italy.
It is for this reason that Merkel criticized Russia on the 2nd because Navalni was addicted to Nobichok as “attempted murder” but said “Nortstream 2 is independent”. It clearly indicated the willingness to continue construction. However, since then, lawsuits to stop Nordstream 2 have been hit, creating difficulties.
On the 6th (local time) in Germany’s opposition, both the Liberal Democrats (right-handed) and the Green Party (left-handed) announced that the project should be stopped. On the 3rd, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Rötgen of the ruling Christian Democratic Party, said: “EU member states should jointly resolve a request to suspend this project.” The party leader rebelled against Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Party.
First of all, there was not much opposition to promoting this project. In Germany, there were concerns that it could be subordinate to Russia, saying: “If Russia closes the gas pipelines, the country is paralyzed.” US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron have complained that Europe’s energy dependence on Russia has increased, leading to instability in security. Faced with a Russian military threat, Poland criticized the union of Merkel and Putin, saying it “is reminiscent of a non-aggression treaty between Hitler and Stalin in 1939.”
Merkel is emotionally close to Russia from the beginning. She grew up in East Germany as a child and is fluent in Russian. When I was a teenager, I traveled to Moscow after winning a Russian competition. Putin is a member of the Soviet intelligence agency KGB and has a history of working in Dresden, East Germany in the 1980s, and is fluent in German. The two have a deep conversation in each other’s language. Stephen Cornelius, author of Merkel’s biography, said: “The two know each other well, so they are like a long-lived couple.”
There is growing demand to stop Nordstream 2, but Merkel remains silent. However, there are many observations that it will be difficult to stop construction because this project is Merkel’s focus. Since 90% of the construction has already been completed, and companies from other European countries such as the UK and the Netherlands are also involved in this project, it is difficult to stop construction realistically. For Merkel, she was in an embarrassing situation.
Not only Merkel, but also former Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder were in a difficult position. Schröder is the chairman of the board of directors of the corporation responsible for the construction of Nordstream 2 and is also an advisor to the Russian state energy company Gazprom. In German politics, there is a demand for Schroeder to step down from all Northstream II or Russia related positions, regardless of the opposition party.
