Energy: Röttgen demands a clear statement from Baerbock about Nord Stream 2

energy
Röttgen demands a clear statement from Baerbock about Nord Stream 2

The CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen has asked the new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) to take a clear stance on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

“It is inconceivable that Nord Stream 2 can go online, should Russia really attack Ukraine,” said Röttgen, who is applying for the office of CDU chief, the German press agency. The fact that Baerbock “takes a clear position is also a question of her credibility after years of calling for the pipeline to be stopped as an opposition politician”.

Röttgen as well as Baerbock had spoken out against an operating permit for Nord Stream 2. Since the traffic light government of the SPD, Greens and FDP with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) started, Baerbock has been in a quandary because the SPD supports the pipeline project in principle. The Federal Network Agency has until the beginning of January to decide on an operating permit for the pipes, through which up to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas will be delivered from Russia to Germany annually.

Röttgen said, for the second time in a very short time, Russia is pulling massive troops together on the Ukrainian border, putting the country on a war alarm. “In this dangerous situation, it is crucial that the West takes a unified line and opposes the Russian escalation by threatening the toughest economic sanctions.” Of course, Germany must remain in dialogue with Russia. “But dialogue must not be used as a phrase for German foreign policy to cover up a lack of action,” warned Röttgen.

“Our international partners rightly expect Europe to be more involved in foreign and security policy,” emphasized Röttgen. Baerbock’s most important task is therefore to create a format that enables Europe to act externally. If the EU and its 27 members do not work, an open group of states should lead the way.

dpa