“No new pipeline in the Baltic Sea”

The German government should come to realise that the planned gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea “will not be implemented” and “save Europe further disputes on this matter”, Green politician Reinhard Bütikofer writes in a guest article for Die Welt. If the EU Commission takes over negotiations with Moscow, former economy minister Sigmar Gabriel’s “idea to build Nord Stream 2 essentially in an unlegislated space bypassing European energy law” will have failed, Bütikofer says. Chancellor Angela Merkel so far has avoided commenting directly on the pipeline that is heavily contested by eastern European EU members. “She should now decide to pull the plug” to avoid German stubbornness standing in the way “of a new vitality in the EU” he argues.  

See the CLEW factsheet The Energiewende and its implications for international security for more information.