Tillerson says Nord Stream 2 would threaten European energy security
The United States sees the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as a threat to Europe’s energy security, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday (27 January).
Poland, Ukraine and Baltic states fear the pipeline would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and provide the Kremlin with billions of dollars of additional revenue to finance a further military build-up on EU’s borders.
“Like Poland, the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. We see it as undermining Europe’s overall energy security and stability,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference with the Polish foreign minister in Warsaw.
“Our opposition is driven by our mutual strategic interests,” he said.
The European Commission on Thursday (19 October) said that despite a lack of unity among member states over Russia’s plans for a new gas pipeline to Germany, it would press ahead to seek support for talks with Russia on its objections.
The United States has already sanctioned Russian companies over Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis, and foreign companies investing in or helping Russian energy exploration.
Poland, an EU member since 2004, sees Russia as its biggest potential threat, especially since Moscow took the Crimean peninsula from neighbouring Ukraine in 2014.
Poland wants the European Union to ban the construction of a second pipeline to pump Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, alleging it undermines the bloc’s strategic interests and violates competition rules.
Nordic nations have already voiced security concerns over the pipeline being laid near their shores under the Baltic.
But Germany and Austria have focused more on the commercial benefits of having more cheap gas from Russia.
German energy groups Uniper and Wintershall, Austria’s OMV, Anglo-Dutch group Shell and France’s Engie have invested in the 1,225 km (760 mile) pipeline, which is to pump more Russian gas via the Baltic Sea.
Poland, which spent four decades under Soviet domination after World War Two, still imports Russian gas to meet about two-thirds of its consumption.
But it has invested in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Baltic coast to diversify supplies and plans to build a gas link to Norway. In November, Poland signed a long-term deal to buy LNG from the United States.
Poland will receive its first liquefied natural gas supplies (LNG) from the United States in mid-June as a result of a deal Polish gas firm PGNiG signed with Cheniere Energy, state-run PGNiG said today (27 April).
“We are proud to support Poland’s energy diversification and security,” Tillerson said.
