Will the West turn "Nord Stream 2" into an instrument of blackmail?

Johann Wadephul, deputy chairman of the parliamentary faction of the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the CDU / CSU, which has gone into opposition, proposed to include the "Nord Stream 2" gas pipeline project in the package of Western sanctions to restrain Russia due to the situation in Ukraine.He announced the corresponding initiative in an interview to the editorial association Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland published today.

The oppositionist expressed the opinion that the dispute over "NS 2" turned out to be a serious stumbling block in relations between Berlin and Washington, and called on the new chancellor Olaf Scholz to prepare a unified political line on this issue, as well as promptly "develop a convincing communication strategy" for the American side.

Wadephul believes that "North Stream-2" should be included in the package of sanctions to be adopted by the West if an armed conflict occurs between Russia and Ukraine. "In this case, Germany’s energy partnership with Russia has to be carefully studied", the politician clarified.

As Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher of the Centre for European Studies of IMEMO RAS, noted in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza correspondent, in fact, no one is interested in shutting down Nord Stream 2 except the United States and its satellites in Europe, but there will be a struggle between political and economic interests for the launch of the pipeline in Germany. 

“The idea of ​​rejection, non-acceptance of Nord Stream 2 comes from the United States for quite understandable reasons. The Americans want to reserve the gas market in Europe, primarily in Germany, since Germany is the largest economy in the European Union. Personally, this rhetoric is generated by senators and members of the House of Representatives who are part of the American energy lobby in the United States. Their task is to make American financial interests a common European political position. The first steps were easy enough for them to be taken through Poland and the Baltic countries, and now when Nord Stream 2 is ready, it is time for attempts to block the pipeline or prevent its operation in Germany itself," he said.

The United States has certain opportunities to put pressure on Berlin. “There is a fairly broad pro-American lobby in Germany, which is ready to act in the interests of the United States, even to the detriment of national interests. This is probably the case when the Christian Democratic Party calls for stopping a profitable German Russian project. It is clear that the pretext is far-fetched, and the situation is artificial, but they will be used further, because the economic motive of the Americans about reserving the German gas market for themselves will not go anywhere. I think that everything that we see is a consequence of the activation of the pro-American lobby in Germany," Vladimir Olenchenko stressed.

"German business sticks to common sense, it needs Nord Stream 2 to work. After all, the gas that will come through this pipeline is not only providing the population with housing and communal services, but also raw materials for the German chemical industry. Politicians behave inconsistently, even German, and often forget about national interests when it becomes important for them to demonstrate the so-called "Euro-Atlantic solidarity”. So the fight for "Nord Stream 2" between German and American interests will continue. German national interests will still prevail", the expert concluded.