Energy News Beat Publishers Note (ENB): We have been following the Nord Stream 2 pipeline political problems for well over a year. This Monday on the Energy News Beat Podcast we covered the political items for the week, and we predicted these major updates. The current administration does not have this political situation in hand, and it will cause worldwide problems.
On a different note, one has to ask “If Germany is so far ahead in the renewable space, why do they need so much natural gas from Russia?” Germany has been fighting for this pipeline for many years, and they could get gas from neighboring countries easier. Why does Nord Stream 2 ends in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s home political district? She has the motive to push this through when it is not a good thing for Europe.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has decided to waive sanctions against the company overseeing the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, despite bipartisan opposition in Congress and appeals from Eastern European governments.
Republican lawmakers immediately accused the administration of handing Russian President Vladimir Putin a major political victory. Democrats urged the White House to reconsider, and the Kremlin called the news a “positive signal.”
The State Department announced the decision in a report to Congress. The move was first reported by Axios.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken opted to waive sanctions against the Russian-owned company behind the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, as well as its German CEO, Matthias Warnig, and other corporate officers, because sanctions “would negatively impact U.S. relations with Germany, the EU and other European allies and partners,” said the State Department report, which was obtained by NBC News.
Warnig, a longtime ally of Putin’s, is a former East German Stasi intelligence officer who has served on the supervisory boards of major Russian companies.
The State Department report said “close cooperation” with Germany, the European Union and other European countries will be critical for U.S. efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, promote a global economic recovery, fight climate change and address other challenges, including countering “malign behavior by Russia and China.”
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, denounced the decision in a scathing statement.
“I am opposed to the decision by the Biden administration to waive sanctions on NS2 AG and Matthias Warnig. I urge the administration to rip off the Band-Aid, lift these waivers and move forward with the congressionally mandated sanctions,” Menendez said.
“The administration has said that the pipeline is a bad idea and that it is a Russian malign influence project. I share that sentiment, but fail to see how today’s decision will advance U.S. efforts to counter Russian aggression in Europe,” he said.
Menendez asked, “What does the administration now expect from Germany after having made this significant concession to exercise the waiver?” He said the decision “has created uncertainty in many corners of Europe and I expect to hear very soon from the administration on its plans moving forward.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., expressed “disappointment.”
“Completion of this pipeline poses a threat to U.S. security interests and the stability of our partners in the region. The administration should uphold its commitment to Congress. Every option available to prevent its completion should be utilized,” Shaheen said in a statement.
Although several European governments and members of both parties in Congress strongly oppose the project, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government had quietly lobbied the administration not to impose sanctions that would block the completion of the pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The Biden administration sought to balance the need to counter Russia with its desire to repair relations with Germany, which were badly strained during the Trump administration. But critics said that the administration had failed to fulfill its vows to stand up to Moscow and that the move would give Putin valuable leverage over Ukraine and other Eastern European states.
“It demonstrates that ultimately standing up to Russia was of less importance,” said John Herbst, a retired career diplomat who was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. “It really undercuts Biden’s ‘I’m-tough-on-Russia’ stance.’”
Herbst said that there is still time to change course and that a political backlash among Democrats on Capitol Hill could alter the White House’s calculations.
Some career diplomats opposed the decision, but the White House overruled their objections, two sources familiar with the discussions said.
Russia currently has to transport natural gas through Ukraine to Europe. The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of transit revenues and making it potentially more vulnerable to Russian aggression, Herbst and other opponents of the project say.
In the report to Congress issued Wednesday, which was required under recently passed legislation, the State Department had to list entities that are involved in the Nord Stream 2 project that merit sanctions. The State Department told Congress that it will sanction eight ships that are supporting the pipeline’s construction.
The report acknowledged that the company running the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and its CEO, Warnig, are involved in sanctionable work. But it said the administration had decided to waive enforcing the sanctions on the Russian-owned company, Warnig and other corporate officers.
The decision means vessels working on the pipeline could be penalized but not the company that contracted them to do the work, Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by the Russian state oil giant Gazprom and is based in Switzerland.
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