“The position of the FRG government on this issue is clear: extraterritorial sanctions are a flagrant interference with EU sovereignty,” the diplomat quoted TASS as saying.
As Annen noted, it is obvious that the US is trying to “unilaterally stop the project.”
“The issue here, as often seems, is not about the German-American issue, it is about European sovereignty,” he emphasized.
According to him, the further effect of the sanctions affects the foreign policy capacity of Germany.
“Inconsistent sanctions are detrimental to a joint policy towards Russia,” said the state secretary.
He said that in the EU there are different positions on Nord Stream 2, but the community has a common opinion that US threats to impose sanctions against European companies are unacceptable.
“The time of voting (on the bill in the USA. - RT) and other details are unknown, but we are forced to assume that this bill will be adopted soon,” Annen said.
In turn, Thomas Barais, the parliamentary state secretary at the German Ministry of Economics, called possible US sanctions “an unprecedented event in the history of transatlantic relations”.
Earlier, Republican Congressman Steve Womack said additional sanctions against the pipeline are included in the draft national defense budget.
As Bloomberg previously wrote, the Federal Republic of Germany is preparing measures in case the United States imposes new sanctions.
In addition, the Handelsblatt reported that the EU is preparing a response.