Calling on Germany to end the Nord Stream 2 project because of the incident with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the United States pursues its own economic interests, said the head of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Manuela Schwesig, representing the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

"The United States would like us to import American shale gas, not Russian natural gas," the DPA quoted Schwezig as saying.

The German politician noted that the decision on this issue should remain with Germany.

This is how Manuela Schwezig reacted to the statement of US President Donald Trump, who said yesterday that he would support the termination of the implementation of Nord Stream 2 due to the situation with Alexei Navalny.

  • Manuela Schwesig, head of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

  • Reuters

  • © John MacDougall / Pool

"Sure.

I have supported this (and before. -

RT

).

I am the first to suggest this.

You did not even hear about Nord Stream 2 until I raised this topic, ”he said during a press conference.

Trump once again lamented that Germany is concluding a deal, according to which it will pay Russia "billions of dollars", while the United States must "protect Germany from Russia" within NATO.

This position was also voiced by the official representative of the US State Department Morgan Ortagus.

“As many European leaders have already stated in recent days: the time has come for Germany to reconsider its cooperation with Russia on Nord Stream 2,” she wrote on Twitter.

However, not all German politicians agree with the abandonment of Nord Stream 2 because of what happened.

Apart from Manuela Schwesig, these calls were condemned by the former head of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Erwin Zellering.

The politician stressed that "the economic interests of the United States can not be a reason to disregard the sovereign decision of Germany."

Vladislav Belov, head of the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that the Trump administration initially called Nord Stream 2 a threat to European energy security.

“In context, the Prime Minister of Pomerania urges not to touch Nord Stream 2 and not to make any decisions.

All decisions have been made.

The construction should end and the gas pipeline should be launched, ”the expert emphasized.

Navalny's case

Recall that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was hospitalized in Omsk on August 20 after he became ill on board the plane.

No poisons or toxic substances were found in the body of the oppositionist.

At the request of the Navalny family, he was taken to Germany for treatment, where he was taken to the Charite hospital under state protection.

On September 2, the FRG authorities, citing German military doctors, said that the Russian oppositionist had allegedly been poisoned with poison from the Novichok group.

  • Charite Hospital Berlin

  • Reuters

  • © Michele Tantussi

Despite calls from a number of German politicians to respond to the incident with Navalny's refusal to build the gas pipeline, Angela Merkel said that the issue of Navalny and Nord Stream 2 should be considered separately.

During a meeting of the CDU / CSU parliamentary faction on September 8, she said that there was no final decision yet.

This was reported by the German media, citing sources in the ruling CDU / CSU bloc.

However, according to German media, during the meeting, Merkel also said that the reaction to the situation with Navalny would be European in nature and Berlin would listen to the opinion of its EU partners.

Sanction pressure

Earlier, the German authorities did not connect the incident with Alexei Navalny and the construction of the gas pipeline.

However, after German toxicologists reported that the Russian oppositionist was allegedly poisoned, this position changed.

So, on September 6, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, in an interview with German media, expressed the hope that the German authorities would not have to change their position on the project.

“I hope that the Russians will not induce us to change our attitude towards Nord Stream 2,” the Minister is quoted by the Das Erste edition.

  • Heiko Maas

  • Reuters

  • © Stefanie Loos / Pool

At the same time, Maas stressed that it is wrong to narrow the discussion around possible pressure on Russia solely to the question of completing the construction of Nord Stream 2.

He warned those who call for abandoning the project, and reminded that this would negatively affect German companies.

“Those who demand this should be aware of the consequences.

More than 100 companies from 12 European countries are involved in Nord Stream 2, about half of them are from Germany, ”Deutsche Welle quotes Meass.

According to the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, Moscow sees no reason to talk about any measures regarding the gas pipeline. 

“It's still mostly a commercial international project.

Why on earth to talk about any measures with a minus sign in relation to an international project, where German companies are involved, and so on?

This is somehow unreasonable, and most importantly, it has no grounds for such conversations at the moment, "Interfax quotes him as saying.  

According to Die Welt, at the moment about € 12 billion has been invested in the construction of the gas pipeline and its continuation - OPAL. Chairman of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, Oliver Hermes, commenting on the possible termination of the project, notes that it is unclear from what sources Germany will receive additional gas to compensate for their abandonment of coal and nuclear power.

As Konstantin Voronov, head of the regional problems and conflicts sector of the European Political Studies Department of the IMEMO RAS, noted in an interview with RT, if we exclude cheap Russian energy resources, this will increase the cost of German export-oriented products.

“The problem is not where to get resources to replace Nord Stream, but how to ensure an acceptable price for them.

Now economic activity has declined and the issue of cost is very important.

If Germany loses its advantage in this respect, it will undermine its competitiveness, ”the political scientist explained.

Angela Merkel's statements that Berlin will listen to its EU partners are made in order to absolve themselves of responsibility and obscure a common European decision, stressed Konstantin Voronov.

“The stakes are high, and Merkel would like to say that they are not alone, but have reached a consensus on this issue.

European politicians understand the importance of this decision and are behaving carefully, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

Konstantin Voronov noted that now it is difficult to make predictions about what decision will be taken by official Berlin.

“Whoever wins the US presidential election can play a big role.

This problem will not be solved overnight, it still has many steps, factors and stages, ”the expert concluded.