Baltic Sea Pipeline Nord Stream 2 as a Political Issue - Will the Navalny case bring the project to failure?

Despite international upheavals, the federal government stuck to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Does the Navalny case change perspective?

What is it really about.

• The

  Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline

  is currently under construction and has been a major political issue for many years.

• It is about a dependency on

  Russia

  and the interests of the

  USA

  .

  So far, Berlin has not been dissuaded.

• With the fall of the poisoned Alexej Navalny *, the project becomes even more explosive than before.

• Many politicians are calling for a rethink.

  A lot of money is at stake - also for

  north-east Germany

  .

Berlin / Washington - Usually you do not do world politics in Sassnitz, so the letter that landed on Mayor Frank Kracht's (left) table a few weeks ago was a new experience.

Three US senators, including the Texan Ted Cruz, threatened with “devastating legal and economic sanctions” if the port of the small Rügen seaside resort continued to ship pipes for the

.

Strong stuff.

Kracht declared that he saw himself seriously threatened.

Nord Stream 2: USA torpedo new Baltic Sea pipeline of European energy companies

It stayed with the pure gesture, but the letter showed once again how emotionally the

at Nord Stream 2.

You have been

for a long time

.

At the end of 2019, they then imposed sanctions on companies involved, which resulted in work on the pipeline coming to a standstill.

She is almost done.

Of the 1200 kilometers of pipe, only 150 are missing.

The

has been a

for a long time

, although it is initially only intended

do

one thing:

bring

(see graphic).

Together with Nord Stream 1, it could move 110 billion cubic meters a year.

The sole owner is the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, which

bears

half of the costs of

.

For this reason, ex-Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was also sharply attacked by the USA.

The other half is financed by five companies: Uniper and Wintershall Dea from Germany, OMV from Austria, the British Royal Dutch Shell and Engie from France.

Angela Merkel * and the federal government spoke for a long time of a purely

that should help to cope with the energy transition.

Even in view of the US sanctions, she stuck to the construction.

In the meantime, the Chancellor has started to admit the “political implications” of the project.

For critics, however, that remains an understatement.

Headwind for the Baltic Sea pipeline: USA fear for sales market, other countries for security

The Americans in particular are accusing Germany of making itself ominously

with Nord Stream 2

.

The US side brings the topic up again and again.

The angry statements by ex-Ambassador Richard Grenell or the appearance of US Vice President Mike Pence at the

are remembered

.

The US, he said threateningly, could "not guarantee the defense of the West if our allies make themselves dependent on the East".

The fact that the USA

sees

a

in Europe

plays a not unimportant role.

Eastern European countries are also skeptical, fear for their

and the

.

Ukraine, for example, through which Russian gas also flows to Europe, receives around two billion euros in transit fees every year - a large chunk in the state budget.

Experts fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to replace the Ukraine pipeline with Nord Stream 2 in the long term and thereby weaken the country further.

However, he has since signed a

agreement

- also because of the delay in the Baltic Sea project due to the sanctions

.

Does Navalny endanger Nord Stream 2?

An important project for Germany

The future

are correspondingly large.

Whether Germany and Europe need such large quantities of gas at all is controversial.

It is clear that sales are used by Russia, which already generates 60 percent of its state income from energy exports.

+

Nord Stream has been in operation since 2011.

Nord Stream 2 is currently being built in the Baltic Sea.

© FKN

Nord Stream 2 is also an

factor

for

, which is why Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) advised against making completion dependent on the Navalny case on Thursday.

In any case, it will be delayed.

It is said that no gas will flow through the pipeline before 2021.

According to the doctors treating him, Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the neurotoxin Novichok.

Similar circumstances have already happened to several Kremlin critics *.

An overview.