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“We have always said that we have serious doubts about this project in this context,” Clement Beaune, Minister of European Affairs, told France Inter radio. “Actually, we’ve said it before.”
The United States and several European countries, including Poland and the Baltic countries, criticize the Nord Stream 2 project, arguing that it will increase the dependence of Germany and the EU on Russian gas.
Germany, for its part, is continuing with the project and construction work resumed in December, which had been stalled for almost a year due to US sanctions.
According to Beaune, European leaders are considering new sanctions against Russia for President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on protesters led by Navaln. Mr. Navaln was arrested in mid-January and faces several years in prison.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered for rallies from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, despite warnings from the government. Protests against the arrest of Kremlin critic A. Navaln are taking place for the second weekend in a row.
“Sanctions have already been introduced, we can do it, but you have to understand that they will not be enough,” Beaune said.
“The Nord Stream option is under consideration,” he added, acknowledging that “this is a German decision because the pipeline is in Germany.”
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