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Merkel defends decision on Nord Stream 2

2022-06-17T22:51:58.264Z


Merkel defends decision on Nord Stream 2 Created: 06/18/2022, 00:35 Angela Merkel was German Chancellor from 2005 to 2021. © Fabian Sommer/dpa In an interview, ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel talks about her motives for Nord Stream 2 and defends her actions. She also looks back on the refugee crisis of 2015. Berlin - Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her decisions to build the Nord Stre


Merkel defends decision on Nord Stream 2

Created: 06/18/2022, 00:35

Angela Merkel was German Chancellor from 2005 to 2021.

© Fabian Sommer/dpa

In an interview, ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel talks about her motives for Nord Stream 2 and defends her actions.

She also looks back on the refugee crisis of 2015.

Berlin - Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her decisions to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.

"I didn't believe in change through trade, but in connection through trade, with the second largest nuclear power in the world," Merkel told the editorial network Germany (RND).

But it wasn't an easy decision.

"The thesis at the time was: If Nord Stream 2 is in operation, Putin will no longer deliver gas through Ukraine or will even attack it." The West made sure that gas was still routed through Ukraine and that they would continue to receive transit fees have.

Merkel pointed out that Russia then attacked Ukraine on February 24, when gas was not yet flowing through Nord Stream 2.

"In this sense, gas was not a weapon," Merkel said.

economic decision

Merkel also justified the procedure at the time with economic considerations.

"At the time, the German economy opted for pipeline gas transport from Russia because it was economically cheaper than liquid gas from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and later also from the USA," she explained.

They were willing to use taxpayers' money to support the construction of two terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Germany.

"But until the last day of my tenure, no company built an LNG terminal in Germany because there was no importer who would have booked long-term capacities in advance because of the high price."

For Germany, Nord Stream 1 is the main supply pipeline with Russian gas.

Nord Stream 2 was built to bring even more Russian gas to Germany.

However, after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the pipeline did not go into operation as planned.

Merkel looks back on the refugee crisis

For ex-Chancellor Merkel, the refugee crisis was also one of the major challenges of her tenure.

In retrospect, it was the "most emotional phase" of her chancellorship, according to Merkel.

"It was an extremely difficult time in 2015/2016, but I was very strong inside," she told RND.

Her actions in 2015 corresponded to the C on behalf of her party and to article one of the Basic Law.

The C in the CDU stands for Christian.

Article 1 of the Basic Law obliges us to protect human dignity and contains a commitment to human rights.

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When many refugees, mainly Syrians, came to Germany via Hungary and Austria in late summer 2015, Merkel decided not to close the German borders.

One of her best-known sentences was said at the time: "We can do it." Merkel's decision was controversial within the Union but also in society.

She then repeatedly clashed with the then CSU leader Horst Seehofer on the refugee issue.

Looking back, she said about this time and her decision to the RND: "I don't see that as a low point at all.

Some of the conflicts about Corona took me more with it.”

“I was chancellor of all Germans”

Your refugee policy met with criticism, especially in the eastern German states.

Merkel herself has an East German background and grew up in East Germany.

However, during her chancellorship she largely avoided making too much reference to it.

"I might have been accused of bias," she told RND, adding: "I was Chancellor of all Germans, of course the East German Chancellor of all Germans, and I tried to be very objective."

In her speech on the Day of German Unity last year, Merkel made more reference to her East German biography.

She now said she gave the speech knowing that she would soon be leaving office.

"Because I showed a vulnerability with it," she said.

"Before, I was certainly worried about making myself vulnerable." dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-17

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