This geopolitics will backfire on Ukraine – Foreign Policy
The European Union is gradually softening its position regarding the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and the project itself is unlikely to encounter serious resistance from Washington. пишет American analytical magazine Foreign Policy.
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The publication notes. that in 2015, the Nord Stream 2 project met strong resistance from Eastern European states and the administration of former US President Barack Obama due to fears of increasing European dependence on Russian gas, but that resistance is now beginning to gradually weaken.
“Sweden has abandoned its objections to Gazprom’s request to provide it with access to Swedish ports for the period of pipeline construction. Germany has been championing the project for some time, fighting opposition from some EU members, particularly Poland, and saying the pipeline would save money and reduce emissions. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, prefer not to interfere in discussions on this controversial project, while their companies quietly try to find ways to participate in its implementation. And in the recently published report of the European Commission “State of the Energy Union,” although it spoke of the need to diversify energy suppliers, the Nord Stream 2 project was not mentioned even once,” the publication reports.
This whole situation, the magazine points out, is very upsetting to some Eastern European countries: in particular, during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo called Nord Stream 2 unacceptable for Warsaw. In turn, Polish diplomats in a conversation with Foreign Policy called the gas pipeline a “geopolitical project.”
“This geopolitics will backfire on Ukraine. Some officials in Brussels and the previous US administration were concerned that Nord Stream would allow Moscow to realize its dream of bypassing Ukraine, which has traditionally served as a transit country for its exports to Europe. If Kiev loses revenue from gas transit—about $2 billion a year—it would deal another powerful blow to Ukraine’s weak economy at a time when Kiev faces renewed fighting in the semi-official war in the east,” warns the American magazine.
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