That’s what’s most interesting: it cost the German business newspaper Handelsblatt on Tuesday to release quite, let's say, "not quite verified information" that the US Congress is determined to adopt a new sanctions package against the Nord Stream 2 project in February-March, as a quick reaction to this, quite frankly, hypothetical probability appeared - and not only of the German Foreign Ministry, which officially stated that (literally) "Berlin rejects any extraterritorial restrictions",

but also other German politicians who also did not stand aside. Moreover, their usually dissonant choir in this case sounded quite coherently: no one especially faked from the Ministry of Energy to the Bundestag. And this harmonious choir, with all desire, cannot be called laudatory in relation to American politics in general and American politicians in particular.

In fact, this story initially had quite a lot of funny and rather unusual.

Firstly, the source of the “strategic information leak” itself is very curious: Handelsblatt is a very original publication. On the one hand, today the “Trade Leaflet” (that is how its name is translated into Russian) is one of the largest and most influential business newspapers in Germany. But, on the other hand, calling Handelsblatt a German newspaper would be rather impolite to its North American owner, namely the Dow Jones publishing house.

Moreover, the publication does not particularly hide that in all trade and economic conflicts it is by no means on the side of the German economy itself — this “trade leaflet” - who needs the trade leaflet. And in the analysis of any "flowing" economic information from there, this should be extremely clearly and as strictly as possible understood. And make allowance for the wind.

Secondly, we all remember very well how “crooked” not only from the point of view of international law, but even within American politics, the decision was made on the first portion of extraterritorial sanctions: it even had to be “strapped” to the national defense budget. Otherwise, the document had very unlikely chances to be, as they say, "impassable." And now it’s kind of like for documents suitable “for trade with a load”, not exactly those seasons are. And to Congress, as it were, softer, at the present time it’s not much with all these parallel impeachments and other coronaviruses.

And this is not to mention the fact that after the signing of the EU-Russia-Ukraine transit agreement, there is not even a formal reason for further restrictions: in principle, of course, this never stopped anyone in the USA, but somehow it was completely untimely to intensify the trade war with Europe, having no formal reasons for it. On the same document, they still did not have time to cool down the ink, where to rush on.

Therefore, here, it seems to us, those experts are most likely to be right who consider what is happening just ordinary speculation: it is not by chance that the Federal Ministry of Energy, demonstratively emphasizing the rejection of any extraterritorial restriction, informs through its press service that the department is very closely monitoring the development of the dramaturgy of events in the US Congress, but does not comment on them in any way.

There is something more interesting here. And it is precisely the fact that for the most part the political and business community of Germany, with, again, a consensus condemnation of US actions around Nord Stream 2, nevertheless takes extremely seriously and very painfully even such, frankly, “muddy” information. Reacting to it, in fact, at the official level. And this despite the fact that “knowledgeable for life” and very pragmatic German politicians and economic generals are pretty well informed about any little things happening in Washington: for Berlin in its current state it’s just a matter of survival.

Serious people there perfectly understand that the congress, after all, is not a special service, and if such a question was really raised there, it would have leaked long ago.

And the reason for this, frankly, the nervous reaction of the German authorities in this particular case is quite understandable: even if the Handelsblatt information is not, not fake, of course, but, say, “very, very, very high, very like”, this is doesn’t mean that in the citadel of world democracy they don’t think of yet another nasty thing against the so-called Nord Stream - 2 dear to their hearts and wallets. For the Germans do not even have any doubts that their partners are planning something unkind. Because it simply cannot be otherwise.

It's just that this is no longer an “sanction war with Russia” - it is the beginning of a global trade conflict with Europe, about which Trump, for example, repeatedly spoke directly, including in Davos. The reasons are the same as in a similar conflict with the Chinese. Which, incidentally, like the Europeans, absolutely did not want to conflict with America: only a madman conflicts with his own markets. But I had to.

It is clear what exactly the matter is: the United States of America, as a global superpower, is not satisfied with the very same built global economic order. And she, this superpower, is not satisfied with the trade deficit not only with China, but also with Europe. And it’s somehow extremely difficult not to understand.

And in the same way, it’s hard not to understand that Nord Stream 2 is no longer Russian (well, or not only Russian at least), but a completely European project. Moreover, it is vulnerable by the same political methods that Europe has long been implementing within itself: and this is the whole tragedy and paradox of the current situation. Which, as a result, causes such a nervous and even hysterical reaction: continental Europe is already aware of the inevitability of at least a trade and economic confrontation with the Anglo-Saxon world (the crafty Great Britain was not so “self-cutting” from the EU) and at the same time understands that right now absolutely not ready for him. At least in the event that they will change (and America Trump is now just changing them rapidly throughout the rest of the world), the established "rules of the game."

In fact, the story around the European, we will repeat, Nord Stream 2 project is just one (yes, there was still automotive industry, banks, but there were a lot of things, but it was at least somehow “furnished”) from the first swallows or, if You want black swans, global in essence and the first intra-western in content in the current conditions of the economic war.

Well, as for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline itself, it will be built, despite any sanctions and restrictions, including extraterritorial ones. We don’t know if Washington will be able and / or how quickly it will be able to convert European economies to the status of semi-colonies and markets, but at the moment, the north-western (German first of all) subcontinental European industrial cluster is still strong enough to just die.

And the construction of Nord Stream 2 is for him the question of survival, not prosperity: without unlimited and constant access to sources of relatively cheap energy, the extremely energy-intensive local industry will simply be uncompetitive and die pretty quickly. And if in this kind of situation Germany succumbs to pressure, it will, in effect, declare suicide of its own industry and the industry of its neighbors in Central Europe. And all significant players will simply stop dealing with it.

Nobody wants to deal with suicides - they are non-negotiable and planning for the future is impossible with them.

Moreover, he, this “German industrial cluster”, is very important for us, and here we are ready to be partners with the north-west of the European subcontinent: we will not dissemble, for us it is an extremely interesting and traditional market for the sale of energy carriers (and not only , but in this case we are talking about them). And that means that the gas will go through the Nord Stream-2 in the time periods specified by the Russian president anyway - this, incidentally, is understood even in that very America, which is, as it were, at war with it.

But even this doesn’t mean at all that the European economy will not lose in the approaching global trade and economic conflict: as recent experience shows, without serious reliance on national and sovereign political structures, this task is unrealistic. But whether modern Europe will be able to “grow its sovereignty” instead of voluntarily transferred to the “Atlantic structures”, at least at the same Turkish level (by the way, it is very symbolic that the Turks realized their “flows” quite easily) - the question is quite relevant to itself.

So we’ll finish building Nord Stream 2 - and we will continue to closely monitor them.

Because this is what she is - a real “big game”: an extremely entertaining, but also deadly show. And this show, whether we like it or not, it will still be, sorry for the reminder, “Must Go On”. And it’s very good that not only we, but the Germans, and the same Austrians, are beginning to feel this on their own skin and understand at a wide variety of levels.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.