The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is nearing completion, while many say it should be suspended. However, the German newspaper Der Spiegel warns that it would be a mistake. If Nord Stream 2 is not supposed to be finished, “we would have to face industrial ruin,” writes columnist Franziska Augstein.
According to the author, Germany could dispense with Nord Stream 2, “but then citizens would pay more money for gas”, for example, for the expensive fracking gas that the United States extracts.
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This type of extraction destroys entire areas of land. In addition, the US put pressure on companies that participated or wanted to participate in the construction of Nord Stream 2: they threatened or imposed sanctions, also with the purpose of selling US gas.
“As moral and economic reasons are intertwined in the debate on Nord Stream 2, the question is not whether Nord Stream 2 should be completed, but whether the interests of different countries should be taken into account,” says Franziska Augstein.
In particular, the current Polish government “is based on nationalism.”
The country seeks independence from Russian gas. From Poland’s point of view, it is preferable to buy gas from Norway and the United States, despite its higher price.
As for Ukraine, the columnist notes that “anyone who claims that Nord Stream 2 should not be built because Ukraine would be at the mercy of Russia is wrong.”
“If Nord Stream 2 goes online, Ukraine will lose transit fees, but this can be offset at the expense of the EU. Under the Soviet Union, gigantic gas storage facilities were built in Ukraine, larger than any other in Europe. These tanks are necessary because there are always times, like in summer, when less gas is used than usual,” observes Der Spiegel.
According to the author, Germany is in a special position. 40% of the Russian gas that reaches the EU is used in Germany. Germany also gets 20-30% of its gas from Norway. But if Poland buys gas from Norway, the German quota would be drastically reduced.
The project should also be completed from a geopolitical point of view.
“If the West is in any way interested in Russia not going completely economically to China and for human rights to be respected there, Nord Stream 2 must be completed,” says the journalist.
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According to Augstein, the less the interests of Russia and the EU overlap, the less the European influence will be.
“If the Nord Stream 2 is not supposed to be finished, it would have to do with an industrial ruin that would not even be suitable for a museum because all the pipes are laid underground,” he warns.
As the United States continues to shape public opinion and is the guarantor of security in the Western world, the author quotes Nikos Tsafos, an analyst at the US Center for Strategic and International Studies: “It often feels—in Washington, in Berlin, in Brussels—that sanctions merely disguise the absence of a U.S. strategy toward Moscow. If Nord Stream 2 could be placed in a broader strategic context, the case for sanctions might become clearer.”