Finland’s Position on Nord Stream 2 Unchanged After Its Authorisation – Official

HELSINKI (Sputnik) – The position of Finland, which has authorised the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on its territory, remains unchanged in the wake of the European Parliament’s resolution, calling for scrapping the project, Kari Klemm, the government counsellor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, told Sputnik.

"On April 5, the Finnish government authorised the Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction project in relation to the section running through the country’s exclusive economic zone. This situation has not changed", Klemm said.

READ MORE: EU Parl't Backs Resolution Condemning Nord Stream 2 as Threat to Energy Security

The official noted that Helsinki’s decision on Nord Stream 2 was based on the Finnish law on the country’s exclusive economic zone and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which stipulated the right of every state to lay pipelines and cables in its exclusive economic zone.

"The government’s decision of April 5 also said that Nord Stream 2 was a large-scale project concerning international energy supply issues and that is what has provoked a lot of comments by various EU member states", Klemm pointed out.

He recalled that Helsinki had authorized the pipeline construction taking into consideration, among other things, the market-driven approach in the energy area.

The official noted that Finland’s government believed the country’s national interests did not require hampering or supporting the activities of Nord Stream 2 AG.

The resolution was passed on Wednesday. The document characterised Nord Stream 2 as a political project posing threat to Europe’s energy security and called for cancelling the pipeline construction. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the resolution was politically motivated and adopted under the US pressure. Moscow added the document had nothing to do with energy.

Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture of Russia’s Gazprom with France's Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall. It aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters (some 2 trillion cubic feet) of Russian natural gas a year to the European Union through the Baltic Sea bypassing Ukraine.

READ MORE: Gazprom, Partners Invested Over 6 Bln Euros in Nord Stream-2 — Wintershall CEO

Some of EU states, particularly Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, have opposed the project, saying it was politically motivated. The project was also slammed by Ukraine, which is not willing to lose its share in gas transit to Europe, and the United States, which is seeking to squeeze Russia out of the EU energy market in order to deliver more LNG to Europe.

However, other western states have supported the project. Notably, Germany has called Nord Stream 2 a purely commercial project saying no one would benefit from abandoning it.