Europe is displeased with the US pressure on European companies that partake in development of energy supplies to Europe, Austria’s Chancellor Christian Kern said at the Austrian World Summit.
According to him, gas will serve as a technology that will ensure the transition to clean energy. He said that he sees the US Senate's decision to expand the US sanctions against the Russian energy industry as a threat to European companies that partake in development of energy supplies to Europe. "Specifically, the construction of new gas pipelines that should compensate for the reduction in exploration and production in the North Sea," TASS cited Kern as saying.
Austria's Chancellor stressed that such an approach is unacceptable, since Europe should solve the issue of ensuring its energy needs independently. "It is important for us that we have jobs in our enterprises. And we do not accept a bill supported by the US Senate, which believes that the supply of liquefied natural gas to the US should find a new market in Europe," the politician explained.
He said that it is inadmissible to resolve political issues in an economic way, having warned that Europe as a whole and Austria in particular will defend itself against such an approach, realizing its interests in the first place.
A senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the question is whether Austria and Germany will be consistent in protecting the companies. "They said bluntly that if these sanctions start to work, they could lead to the curtailment of Russian supplies and the appearance of other countries, particularly the US itself, in the European gas market, which will be much more expensive. Since Vienna and Berlin do not want to pay more, I think they will be consistent in the struggle for their money," he expects.
At the same time, there are countries in the European Union that will support the US sanctions against Russian gas pipelines. "First of all, Poland is interested in gas supplies through its territory. Second, the Baltic countries will not miss the opportunity to act in unison with those who oppose Russia. Other countries may have only political interests but we can see it closer to the date of adoption or not the adoption of these sanctions in the United States," Vladimir Olenchenko noted.
Anyway, the discussion of sanctions can slow down the implementation of the Nord Stream-2. "Companies that participate in the construction of the gas pipeline have another business linked to the US. So we should expect a certain pause in which countries and companies will assess the possible benefits and losses," the senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences stressed.
