Water sharpens a stone. So Russia in the person of Gazprom finally achieved, despite the skeptics' unbelief, a breakthrough in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The last - Danish - bastion fell. The kingdom is no longer an obstacle to the completion of the megaproject. Russian gas, on the mountain to the Americans (and maybe even to the Poles), will flood Europe. The local, it would seem, victory of common sense pushes to large geopolitical conclusions.
The event itself is technical in nature. The Danish energy agency has allowed the operator of the Nord Stream 2 AG project to complete the gas pipeline in its waters using pipe-laying vessels with “anchor positioning”. This means that the Fortune barge can come to the aid of Academician Cherskiy, which will make it possible to finish off the last 106-kilometer section almost twice as fast. We’ll build faster - they’ll bury money for gas faster.
It was the type of positioning of pipe-laying vessels that was the whole point. Anchor suggests a traditional way of fixing the vessel on the surface of the water area (at Fortuna there are 12 anchors). There are many such ships in the world, and even under the conditions of American sanctions there is plenty to choose from. Another type of positioning, dynamic, involves holding the ship with a complex propeller system. And such ships are rare. The Swiss, who escaped from the project due to sanctions, had them.
In the Danish section of the gas pipeline, all this was important, since in Copenhagen it was argued that the anchors could be damaged by some unexploded ordnance with chemical poisons left over from the war. It sounded unconvincing, it was felt that the reason was far-fetched, but that was enough to delay the construction. Now the Danes themselves suddenly recognized that the rest of the pipeline runs outside the danger zone. It turns out, before that they lied? Alas.
The reference to an unknown poison as an argument in modern politics is not news. Let us recall the already stalled case of the Skripals. The main thing is to catch up with fear - and any sanctions and prohibitions can be introduced under this matter. So did the British, so did the Danes. The latter did not so much come to their senses as they realized that there was no point in further resistance. The gas pipeline could bypass the disputed section. Yes, it is more expensive, but solvable. Denmark delayed but did not stop the construction.
Upon learning of the decision of Copenhagen, Germany rejoiced. In a wave of delight with future profits, the head of the profile association Timm Köhler even blundered too much, publicly declaring that his country would urgently need Russian gas until at least 2050, since fashionable green energy, although more environmentally friendly, is too expensive. However, compared with coal, which is still drowned in Germany, the gas is also quite green.
The Germans, apparently, were crippled by the attempts of the United States, by hook or by crook, to slow down the construction of the much-needed Nord Stream 2.
The rhetoric of the Nord Stream AG shareholder representative and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was very unconventional. He proposed a parliamentary mechanism to tear out "particularly poisonous teeth" from Washington's sanction bill. And he called it an encroachment on the sovereignty of the EU. That's right.
Acting Chancellor Angela Merkel went even further. She not only initiated reciprocal sanctions at the level of the entire European Union, but also started a public conversation on US dominance in the world. And although her speech outwardly expressed regret over the fact that Washington no longer wants to be a hegemon, in reality this meant an invitation to Europe to take its fate into its own hands. It is clear that in this case, Berlin will already dominate in the Old World.
So Washington’s horror stories are no longer frightening major players in world politics. Will you introduce sanctions? “We can do without you,” said the Germans, determined to return to their first roles in the world. If anyone was still afraid of the United States, these are small countries like Denmark. Of course, because their potential is not comparable with the American. Trump’s only offer to redeem Greenland could turn Copenhagen’s politics upside down. But in the end, the Danes stopped being cowards.
Yes, and who to be afraid of? Watching CNN news, Europeans are already wondering how they could obey the Americans for more than half a century. The defeated statues of the founding fathers, the burning American flags, the police on their knees, the armed marches of the "black panthers" ... It all comes to the point that the hegemon will be defeated by its own citizens. Maybe the kingdom itself will also be divided. Let them first put things in order at home, before reasoning to get into our house, they reasonably reason in the EU.
By the way, echoes of overseas events came to Denmark. In the most disgusting way. The famous bronze Little Mermaid from Andersen's fairy tale, a symbol of the country, was disfigured by vandals. “Racist fish,” they wrote absurdly on its pedestal. They say that the Little Mermaid started and turned away at that moment. “Here it is now, America,” probably think the good old Danes. And turn away from the United States along with all of Europe.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.