On July 6, Denmark’s
environmental
authorities surprisingly
approved a renewed
Russian request
to complete the
Nord Stream 2
undersea pipeline
through Danish
waters.
Gazprom said the stalled
but almost completed pipeline
would finally be completed
in early 2021.
New US sanctions
are coming to block
Gazprom's pipeline
despite Danish approval.
New tougher
and bipartisan
US sanctions
against
Nord Stream 2
had been
announced
in June.
Senator Ted Cruz
said the pipeline
threatens Ukraine
and Europe’s
energy independence
and
“gives Russia an opening
to exploit our allies.”
The old sanctions mandated
that any Russian companies
responsible for moving
pipe-laying vessels around
through deceptive
transactions
will face sanctions
themselves.
The new sanctions,
which will pass in the
coming months, mandate
that companies insuring
those vessels will also
be sanctioned, including
corporate officers and
shareholders !
Last December,
the Nord Stream 2
"war" seemed over.
US sanctions immediately
halted construction
by a Swiss company
that specialized in
undersea pipeline-laying,
just 120 kilometers from
completion in Danish waters.
The pipeline controversy
has pitted the United States
against Germany.
Most European Union
members have also tried
to impede the pipeline,
without success.
Work cannot begin
until the Danish decision
is upheld upon appeal,
the cod spawning season
ends, and the weather
in that region allows
activity at sea.
If Nord Stream 2
is completed,
then it, combined
with the existing
Nord Stream 1 pipeline,
will provide the majority
of Russian gas to Europe
through a single choke point.
This will give Russia
huge leverage, making
Europe very dependent
on Russian natural gas.
The European Union
is split into two camps:
the old and new
member states.
The West is split across
the Atlantic: it is
Washington against
Paris and Berlin.
Western Europe gravitates
more to Russia than
Eastern Europe does;
Eastern Europe gravitates
more to the United States
than Western Europe does.
[1]
Germany wants a stable
energy supply that includes
natural gas.
[2]
Russia has large
natural gas deposits.
[3]
Germany and Russia entered
a commercial agreement for
one pipeline already completed,
on the bottom of the Baltic:
NordStream 1.
[4]
Another agreement
was concluded
to build a second
pipeline along the
bottom of the Baltic
– NordStream 2 –
which is now
near completion.
[5]
Both pipelines sidetrack
eastern European countries
– Ukraine, Poland, Czechia
and Slovakia – which makes
them alarmed because soon
Russia will be able to cut off
its gas supplies to and through
those countries –
the Yamal pipeline
(Poland, Belarus) and
Brotherhood pipeline
(Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine)
[6]
The United States helped
Western Europe out of trouble
during WWI, WWII and
the Cold War, so wants
payback for that.
[7]
Washington feels threatened
by Russian economic inroads
in Europe.
[8]
The European Union is split
over the issue of the
two pipelines connecting
Russia and Germany.
[10]
The United States passed the
Protecting Europe’s Energy
Security Act to stop
the construction
of NordStream 2.
Meanwhile,
the European Union
is divided against itself.