Germany’s Merkel could be swayed to back Baltic Pipe: opinion
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
23.10.2018 12:30
While she is unlikely to change course on the contested Nord Stream 2 gas link to Russia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel could be persuaded to back the new Baltic Pipe project championed by Poland, an analyst has said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Wojciech Jakóbik, editor-in-chief of the BiznesAlert.pl website, said that Merkel appeared to be open to energy diversification initiatives and might be enlisted to throw her support behind the planned Baltic Pipe gas link from Norway to Poland.
Polish President Andrzej Duda was on Tuesday meeting German leaders in Berlin and was expected to discuss issues including the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Merkel.
The 1,200-kilometre Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is scheduled for completion in 2019, is expected to supply around 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine. The project is opposed by Warsaw.
The Baltic Pipe, meanwhile, is a planned new energy project that would link Poland with Norway via Denmark as part of Warsaw’s efforts to diversify gas supplies and reduce the country’s dependence on Russia.
Once the Baltic Pipe opens, Poland will be able to import 17 billion cubic metres of gas a year from sources other than Russia by 2022 at the latest, an official said in April.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Merkel was changing course on US gas imports to Germany and that she had offered government support to efforts to open up Germany to American gas.
According to the Wall Street Journal, this appeared to be a key concession from Merkel to US President Donald Trump amid his efforts to loosen Russia’s grip on Europe’s largest energy market.
The paper cited Merkel as telling a group of lawmakers this month that her government had decided to co-finance the construction of a EUR 500 million (USD 576 million) liquefied natural gas shipping terminal in northern Germany.
The move might help solve a protracted trade dispute and possibly even defuse threats by Washington to sanction Nord Stream 2, the Wall Street Journal reported.
(gs/pk)
Source: biznesalert.pl, wsj.com