MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2021) Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will sponsor a motion in the Bundestag requesting support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, in light of German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz's hearings over the project, AfD spokesman in the Bundestag Economic Affairs and Energy Committee Steffen Kotre told Sputnik.
In September, media reported that Scholz allegedly sent a letter to then-US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that indicated Berlin's readiness to allocate 1 billion Euros ($1.21 billion) to support the US liquefied natural gas industry if Washington halts attempts to interfere with the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 project. The German Finance Ministry then did not comment on the reports, citng, among other things, secrecy of the negotiations. Another round of discussion around this story was provoked by environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe, which actively opposes Nord Stream 2 and this week published the letter in question. Scholz was urgently summoned to the Bundestag for hearings on the matter.
"The AfD group in the German Bundestag will shortly table another motion to effectively support and protect the Nord Stream 2 project. We cannot expect much from the current federal government, as experience has shown. It no longer adequately protects German and European interests and thus effectively submits to fatal US policy," Kotre said.
According to the lawmaker, Berlin's offer to invest 1 billion euros in LNG terminals is a "frighteningly naive" attempt to buy Washington, which is "flouting free world trade and international law."
Kotre believes that the federal government should make an effective and even confrontational effort to put an end to US sanctions, if necessary, since using German taxpayers' money to stop aggressive US economic policy is wrong.
"The Federal Government will pay lip service to this important project. Instead, we need open and firm support for this important project. There are many politicians inside and outside the government who demand such sanctions. In this respect, it is quite possible that the federal government will agree to further sanctions against its own interests," the spokesman added.
The United States is a vocal opponent to the Russian-led pipeline project aimed at carrying up to 2 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from Russia to Germany, 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.
