German Lawmaker Calls Greens' Approach to Russian Gas Link Unrealistic

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2021) The position of Green minority coalition partners in Germany's next government to delay coal phase-out deadline until 2030 is unrealistic as the country must rely on Russian natural gas as backup during transition to a low-carbon economy, Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament from the right-wing AfD party, told Sputnik.

The center-left Social Democrats sealed a coalition deal with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats on Wednesday, agreeing to bring the coal phase-out forward to 2030 and ramp up investment in renewables to have green energy make up to 80% in Germany's electricity mix.

This is despite the Greens opposing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that seeks to double the amount of climate-friendlier Russian gas pumped to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

Omid Nouripour, a Greens foreign policy spokesperson, told media on Tuesday that the project was a mistake but rejected the new threat of US sanctions on German entities involved in it as unfriendly.

"In Germany, we are witnessing a surrealist speech from the Greens, who declare ... that they reject the American sanctions but are also against Nord Stream 2. They forget that gas is essential for their policy of priority to the renewables," Krah said.

Krah said Germany had "left the realm of rationality and logic" when its energy regulator halted the Nord Stream 2 certification process until a subsidiary was created in Germany to own and operate the pipeline's German leg. The move will potentially delay the pipeline's launch past January, given that the European Commission will have two months to give its go-ahead.