"Relevant for Europe": why Germany supported the early launch of Nord Stream 2

Germany called for the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as soon as possible in order to normalize prices for natural gas.

This was stated by the head of the Christian Social Union (CSU) of Germany, Markus Söder, in an interview with the Funke media group.

“A smart energy supply strategy is required.

For this, it makes sense to launch Nord Stream 2 soon, as this will help stabilize gas prices.

We cannot stand by and just watch gas prices rise in the run-up to a cold winter.

This, among other things, will be a cold winter for the coalition of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany.

), the Greens and the FDP (Free Democratic Party.

) - people are waiting for a quick solution to the issue, "Söder said.

According to him, the Russian-European project would become a reliable basis for the stable production of blue fuel in Germany.

“We are abandoning coal, abandoning nuclear energy, we have an ever-increasing scarcity of resources, rising prices and growing demand for electricity due to digitalization and the increase in the number of electric vehicles.

Therefore, we need gas-fired power plants.

Nord Stream 2 would become a reliable guarantee that Germany will have a stable gas supply, ”said the head of the CSU.

Let us remind you that the construction of Nord Stream 2 was completed on September 10. In mid-October, the first string of the pipeline was filled with technical gas, its volume amounted to about 177 million cubic meters. The second line of the pipeline is planned to be filled with blue fuel by the end of 2021. According to Gazprom, after the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, the company will be able to supply 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe per year.

Now the pipeline certification process is underway.

On October 26, the German Ministry of Economy announced that, following the results of the analysis carried out by the department, the issuance of the certificate “does not endanger the safety of gas supplies to Germany and the European Union”, therefore, the certification of the project will continue.

According to the ministry, this process, which began in September, can last up to four months.

The ministry's press release also noted that prior to the analysis, consultations were held with other EU countries.

• Nord Stream AG symbols

• © Nord Stream 2 / Nikolai Ryutin

In turn, Oliver Hermes, chairman of the East German Economic Committee, during a climate conference in Glasgow, called the pipeline one of the most modern infrastructure projects and said that it would be completely counterproductive to slow down the launch of Nord Stream 2 for political reasons. 

Political context

It should be noted that the certification process for Nord Stream 2 is taking place against the backdrop of the gas crisis in Europe, which some politicians blame Russia for provoking.

For example, in September 43 MEPs, of which more than half are representatives of Poland and the Baltic states, sent a letter to the European Commission, in which they called for an investigation into Gazprom. As one of the authors of the letter, Lithuanian MP Andrius Kubilius, wrote on his Twitter account, this company is allegedly the “hand of the Kremlin”, which is possibly manipulating the European gas market in order to increase the cost of natural gas. At the same time, Kubilius believes that in this way Gazprom is putting pressure on European countries, forcing them to approve the commissioning of Nord Stream 2.

Gazprom is the Kremlin's arm, which may be manipulating European gas market to push gas prices up, currently breaking all-time records.

Pressing Europe to approve NS2 operation despite it is in breach of EU rules?

MEPs call European Commission to lounch investigation on Gazprom!

pic.twitter.com/BXXTUhxhap

- Andrius Kubilius (@KubiliusA) September 17, 2021

Later, Amos Hochstein, senior adviser to the US State Department for energy security, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that Moscow was allegedly trying to use the energy crisis in Europe to strengthen its position on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

In his opinion, the supply of blue fuel from Russia to European countries is allegedly "inexplicably low when compared with previous years and what the other side could provide."

However, Moscow categorically rejects such accusations.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on October 20 during a meeting with members of the government, the Russian side is not interested "in an endless rise in prices for energy resources, including gas."

“Nevertheless, what is happening is happening against our will.

These are all largely man-made things that have been made by our colleagues, including in Europe, ”said the President of the Russian Federation.

• Gas pipes, Germany

• AP

• © Matthias Rietschel

Later, the Russian leader said that long-term agreements with European states are being fulfilled by Gazprom in full, while the United States has “removed” a significant amount of LNG from the energy market in Europe, reducing its supplies.

"Would defuse the situation"

As HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev noted in a conversation with RT, against the background of the gas crisis in Europe and accusations against Russia, the delay in the certification of Nord Stream 2 harms primarily the European countries themselves, which are experiencing colossal problems with energy resources.

“However, the Europeans do not understand this, at least at the level of public consciousness.

There are some illusions that the situation is about to resolve itself or the United States will help resolve it, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, as political analyst Alexander Asafov noted, "sober messages" are also heard from Europe.

According to the analyst, the idea that in the conditions of the gas crisis for the EU countries and Germany in particular, the launch of Nord Stream 2 is simply necessary, is presented in an interview with the head of the CSU of Germany, Markus Söder.

"He, like many experts, reasonably believes that the availability of a sufficient amount of Russian gas through Nord Stream 2 would defuse the situation, and the price of blue fuel would no longer reach such speculative values," the analyst said in an interview with RT.

As for the accusations directed at Russia because of the gas crisis in Europe, they are unfounded and unfounded, Dmitry Evstafiev believes.

“Western politicians need to somehow explain the problem with electricity supply and the coming economic recession in Europe.

And the image of Russia as an enemy comes to the rescue here again.

This is a convenient version, which is aimed at leveling the blunders of Western countries in their own unsuccessful energy policy, ”the expert said.

Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, also believes that many in the West do not want to admit their guilt in the European energy crisis.

“The bet on alternative sources of electricity did not work.

The idea of ​​ditching long-term gas contracts with Russia also failed.

In such a situation, it is strange to blame Moscow for all the troubles, which increases the volume of supplies, and not vice versa, "Yushkov explained in a commentary on RT.  

At the same time, despite all the unfair attacks against Russia, Europe understands that the energy crisis can be largely mitigated by launching Nord Stream 2, the analyst added.

“It will be possible to run additional gas through it.

And this is extremely important now for Europe, because the colder, the greater the consumption of blue fuel.

And the sooner the Europeans launch Nord Stream 2 and allow Gazprom to load it to full capacity, the sooner they will be able to get out of the energy crisis, ”Yushkov said.

• Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

• © Nord Stream 2 / Axel Schmidt

In turn, Dmitry Evstafiev called the development of events an extremely unlikely scenario in which Nord Stream 2 will be commissioned by the end of this year.

“Unfortunately, certification has become the subject of an intra-German, intra-European struggle both at the level of political forces and at the level of the bureaucracy.

And this guarantees the duration of the process of obtaining the certificate, ”explained the analyst.

At the same time, the delay in certification in the winter will hit the Europeans themselves even more, Yevstafiev emphasized.

“The price situation in Europe in this situation will be quite difficult.

The EU currently has few opportunities to compensate for the lack of fuel from other sources.

The problem is that this situation will affect not only the energy market, but also energy-related industries, which will be a very difficult test for Europe and Germany in particular, ”the expert concluded.