Europe Will Face 'Tense Situation' if Nord Stream Gas Supplies Not Restored, Austrian Minister Warns

Earlier this month, Russia halted gas supplies to the EU through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and started maintenance work on the pipe after Canada refused to give a repaired turbine back to Gazprom due to sanctions earlier placed on Russia because of its special operation in Ukraine.

The whole of Europe will face a difficult situation if gas supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline are not restored after the planned works, Austria's Minister for Climate Protection, Ecology, Energy, Transport, Innovation, and Technology Leonore Gevessler said.

"For us, Nord Stream is not the main supply route. But for Germany it is. So, if there are no more supplies via the Nord Stream, then the whole of Europe will face a tense situation, an extremely tense situation," the politician said at a press conference broadcast by the Ministry of Energy.

Earlier this month, Russian energy giant Gazprom issued a letter declaring a force majeure on supplies from June 14 amid maintenance of a gas turbine. The annual maintenance was carried out by equipment supplier Siemens Energy in Canada. Gazprom cut the Nord Stream capacity to 40%, blaming Western sanctions and the delay in the return of the gas turbine from Canada for the reduction.

Although the maintenance was scheduled to last for 10 days, the European Commission already announced that it was preparing for a worst case scenario in case gas supplies via Nord Stream are not resumed. Germany expects that gas supplied via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will flow in full upon completion of the repair work and Russia will fulfill its contractual obligations, Christiane Hoffmann, first deputy spokesperson for the German government, said on Wednesday.

The Russian Kommersant newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Canada had approved the shipping of the repaired Nord Stream 1 turbine to Germany and that it should be delivered by July 24. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly said that the decision to return the turbine was "difficult but correct."

According to the latest statements by Gazprom, the energy giant has not yet received official documents from Siemens that would allow the supply of the turbine to the Nord Stream pipeline.