The tone and relations between Germany and the United States under US President Donald Trump have become especially tough, as reflected in sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, Sigmar Gabriel, the former German foreign minister and chairman of the Atlantic Bridge non-profit association, said on Tuesday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) The tone and relations between Germany and the United States under US President Donald Trump have become especially tough, as reflected in sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, Sigmar Gabriel, the former German foreign minister and chairman of the Atlantic Bridge non-profit association, said on Tuesday.
"The tone and relations under President Trump ... have become especially tough. Conflicts between Germany and Europe on the one hand and the United States on the other, have always been there, let me recall the disagreements over the Vietnam War, the second war in Iraq. But for the first time, the United States decided to introduce sanctions against a German-Russian or European-Russian gas project," Gabriel said.
The ex-minister added that US-German and US-European relations have never been as fragile as they are now, adding that this is due to geopolitical reasons associated with Washington changing focus from Europe to the Atlantic, as well as the Trump presidency.
In December 2019, US President Donald Trump signed the 2020 defense budget, which included sanctions against the project, forcing Allseas, a Swiss company responsible for laying down the pipes, to withdraw from the project with just 100 miles left to lay.
On Tuesday, the US State Department broadened the scope of its sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project, as Washington will now be able to target companies that provide services or funding for vessels working on the pipeline project. Russia has criticized the US for imposing another set of sanctions on the project, saying that it exemplifies Washington's desire for unfair competition.
Despite the US sanctions, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in January that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will deliver Russian gas to Europe, should be completed. Russia also said that the project will be implemented in any case.
