Germany's new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, currently sees no reason to commission the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This gas pipeline does not yet comply with the norms of European energy legislation, said Baerbock on the air of the ZDF television channel, Deutsche Welle reports.
On Sunday, December 12, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline could not be given the green light in its current form because it did not meet the requirements of EU energy law.
Baerbock added that the escalating tensions on Russia’s border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin has reportedly amassed 100,000 troops, was “also a factor” because Berlin had agreed with the US that the pipeline should not be used as a political weapon in Moscow’s deteriorating relationship with Kyiv.
According to her, it seems clear that "in the event of further escalation [of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict] this pipeline can no longer be connected to the gas transit network." This was agreed by the previous federal government with the US Congress, the German Foreign Minister specified.
Touching upon the topic of the Ukrainian conflict, Baerbock in an interview with ZDF stressed that the recognition of "Ukraine’s sovereignty remains the basis for all our actions and for all negotiations" with Russia. At the same time, the German Foreign Minister stressed that "the door for negotiations is always and at any time open." Therefore, the G7 countries are ready to try to return to the Normandy format of negotiations with Russia.
Baerbock’s rejection of the pipeline followed a decision last month to suspend the permission process because the project’s ownership structure failed to comply with the EU’s gas directive.
Noteworthy, Europe’s benchmark gas price climbed by around 10% on Monday to a high of €116.75 (£142.56) per megawatt-hour (MWh), just shy of the record closing price of €116.78/MWh set in early October, according to market price data from ICIS.