MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) Germany and the European Union need to agree on joint measures to protect their common economic interests, such as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, a constant target of US sanctions, Alexander Ulrich, the Die Linke party spokesman in the Bundestag Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy, told Sputnik on Tuesday.
Earlier in January, the regional government of Germany's Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a land through which the pipeline is set to pass, decided to create a climate protection foundation that would shield the entities involved in the gas link's construction from US sanctions. The measure is taken in light of Washington's harsh policy towards the project. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the US planned to impose sanctions on Russian pipelaying vessel Fortuna, which is involved in the construction of the gas pipeline.
"Irrespective of this [initiative], it remains necessary for Germany and the EU to agree on measures, with which they can defend themselves in the future against states that attempt to enforce their economic interests with sanctions that violate international law," Ulrich said.
Commenting on US sanctions, the politician expressed doubts that Washington's stance would change under the presidency of Joe Biden, saying that the US restrictive measures are likely to further hamper the project's implementation.
"The US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 enjoy bipartisan support there and are largely driven by Congress, which is why I think it is unlikely that the US under Joe Biden will back away from this policy," the lawmaker said.
The Russian-led Nord Stream 2 project aims at laying a 745-mile-long twin pipeline that will carry up to 2 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from Russia to Germany.
The US is a vocal opponent to the project, as it seeks to export more liquefied natural gas to Europe. The pipeline's construction was suspended a year ago after US sanctions forced Swiss offshore pipeline company Allseas to withdraw from the project. Construction was resumed in December 2020 and is expected to take several months to complete, according to expert estimates.
However, Washington passed the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act in December that includes provisions for imposing more sanctions against Nord Stream 2.
