"People's uprisings" in Germany when the gas was stopped?

Baerbock makes you sit up and take notice in Talk

Created: 07/21/2022, 14:11

By: Florian Naumann

Is there a risk of "popular uprisings" if there is a gas stop?

Annalena Baerbock surprised with this thesis.

The minister now says that the statement was "exaggerated".

Munich/Hanover – How dependent is Germany really (still) on Russia's natural gas supplies?

Although gas has been flowing again since Thursday (July 21), the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is growing hope that this question will remain a theoretical one.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock delivered new fuel for the debate with a drastic statement shortly before this news.

The Greens politician warned on Wednesday evening of "popular uprisings" in Germany if the flow of gas dried up.

Baerbock rowed back and quickly described his own statement as "exaggerated".

In the panel discussion of the

, however, it remained open whether the federal government would actually consider unrest to be possible or likely.

Most recently, the Thuringian intelligence chief Stephan Kramer had warned of threatening security situations in a hypothetical gas emergency.

Baerbock speaks of "popular uprisings" when the gas is stopped - a simple exaggeration?

Baerbock explained in the round why Germany had asked Canada to deliver a turbine for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Russia.

This is by no means a question of “double standards”, emphasized the Foreign Minister.

"If we don't get the gas turbine, we won't get any more gas," Baerbock described the argument against Canada's concerns, "then we as Germany can no longer provide any support for Ukraine at all because we are then busy with popular uprisings".

When asked by the moderators, Baerbock ignored her conspicuous choice of words.

"If we ran out of gas!" She emphasized the hypothetical nature of her statement.

"That's exactly my point.

That we still need gas from Russia.” Finally, the Greens admitted: “Yes, okay, I thought in a somewhat wide arc.”

Baerbock also followed the topic at a performance in Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday.

"I deliberately phrased it very pointedly," explained the minister when asked about her statements.

You wanted to make it clear why Germany spoke out against a complete embargo on gas and oil from Russia.

In such a case, people would have had to be told "from one day to the next" that there was no more gas and that there were no alternatives, said Baerbock.

"Obviously we didn't think that was the right, safe way."

Putin's gas deliveries: Germany still worried - Russia's politicians are threatening

Germany's handling of energy sanctions against Russia as an aggressor in the Ukraine war has long been the subject of international criticism.

The federal government had repeatedly spoken out against a gas embargo - with reference to the serious economic consequences for Germany and the EU.

An interim delivery stop via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline then caused concrete fears in the country.

For example, a debate broke out about who would continue to be supplied in the event of a gas emergency: private households or key industries dependent on gas.

The statements are likely to arouse interest in Russia as well.

Politicians like ex-president Dmitry Medvedev continue to threaten Europe with a “bitterly cold” winter.

It cannot be ruled out that Vladimir Putin will continue to use gas supplies as a lever for power and as a threat – even if Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected this on Thursday as an “unsupportable assertion”.

Concerns about unrest could also be part of the Kremlin's intended program.

Among others, the former German ambassador to Russia, Rüdiger von Fritsch, sees a “destabilization” of Europe as one of Putin's international policy goals.

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