“Appeals to the United States have failed”: why in Poland declared the impossibility to stop the project “Nord Stream - 2”

It will not be possible to stop the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. This opinion was expressed by the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Moravetsky. According to him, there remains hope always, but one should be objective.

“Let's be honest: two powerful states, one of which is Russia, a world power, and the other is Germany, the fourth economy in the world, decided to build a gas pipeline,” he said in an interview with the Polish edition of Interia.

According to him, for several years Warsaw tried to persuade other countries to criticize Nord Stream 2, but “it is not easy to prohibit two powerful states”.

“We believe that this (the construction of a gas pipeline - RT ) is contrary to European rules. We also believe that this is contrary to security guarantees for this region, including Ukraine and Poland. This is a selfish project, ”Moravetsky said.

Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Chaputovich stated that the Nord Stream II destroyed the effect of anti-Russian sanctions and could deprive Ukraine of income and a guarantee of protection from Moscow’s alleged “aggression”.

Note that at the end of 2018, the Polish state energy PGNiG signed long-term contracts for the supply of liquefied natural gas with the US companies Cheniere Marketing International, Port Arthur LNG and Venture Global LNG.

As pointed out in Warsaw after the conclusion of one of the documents, the American LNG will allegedly be 20–30% cheaper than the blue fuel from Gazprom. Meanwhile, the Polish side did not provide specific figures regarding the economic feasibility of such purchases.

We add that the PGNiG contract with the Russian corporation for the supply of natural gas will expire in 2022 and will not be renewed. According to the agreement, up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas are supplied to Poland. At the same time, in 2018, fuel imports were increased by 11.7%.

“Criticism does not affect the progress of the gas pipeline construction”

According to the expert of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the leading expert of the National Energy Security Foundation Stanislav Mitrahovich, speaking of calls for criticism of the Nord Stream - 2, Moravetsky means the United States and the Baltic countries.

"The Americans have real opportunities to influence, but so far the appeals to Washington have not led to any results, the Trump administration has not introduced any sanctions, apparently because the Americans understand that an excessive quarrel, for example, with the same Germany will not be good for them “- he stressed.

According to him, the project will continue, and all critics of the construction of Nord Stream 2 have already come to terms with this.

“I think that Poland will continue to talk about the pipeline as an illustration of the fact that some of its EU partners are behaving incorrectly, but the country will not receive any image advantages,” said Mitrahovich in a conversation with RT.

In turn, the director of the Energy Development Fund, Sergey Pikin, added that the current situation is succinctly reflected in the Russian proverb “the dog barks - the caravan moves on”.

“Poland will talk about this even when the Nord Stream 2 is up and running. This is the strategy they have been pursuing for more than a decade. Many people say that they are against, but the Nord Stream 2 continues to be realized, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

He also stressed that the energy agreements signed by Poland with the United States are "a tribute to their main ally."

The Nord Stream - 2 project involves the construction of a gas pipeline from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to the borders of Germany by the end of 2019. The pipeline capacity will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

At the same time, Berlin faces constant criticism, primarily from the United States, for the participation of national companies in the implementation of the gas pipeline project.

In particular, in mid-January, the American ambassador Richard Grenell sent letters to German business structures in which he warned them about possible sanctions for participating in the construction of Nord Stream 2.

German authorities condemned such steps of the diplomat. As German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stressed, “no one will stop” the project, the Minister of Economy Peter Altmayer, in turn, noted that “it’s wrong to make Nord Stream 2 a whipping boy.”

“The dispute over where we deliver gas seems somewhat exaggerated,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the International Economic Forum in Davos.

It should be added that not only officials, but also ordinary citizens of Germany act in support of the gas pipeline. According to a survey by the Forsa Research Institute, 73% of German residents consider the construction of Nord Stream 2 as the right decision.