EU head of diplomacy Josep Borrell said in an interview with Spiegel that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project has a geopolitical component and does not contribute to Europe's energy security, but the European Commission cannot prohibit private companies from investing in it.
According to Borrell, he does not agree with the position of the German government, which considers the gas pipeline as a purely economic project. He believes that “among projects of this scale there are no purely economic ones, they always have a geopolitical component.”
Josep Borrell recalled that the European Commission “has repeatedly and clearly indicated that Nord Stream 2 does not contribute to either the diversification of Europe's energy supply, or the EU's energy independence.” However, the EC cannot keep private companies from investing in the project.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Currently, the facility is 95 percent ready, the cost of its construction is estimated at $ 11 billion. The pipeline was supposed to be commissioned at the end of 2019, but the completion of construction had to be postponed due to US sanctions. In Washington, construction of the facility is being obstructed as American liquefied natural gas competes with Russian pipeline fuel for the European market. Russia promises to complete the construction of the facility, but the exact time is not given.
