Germany Needs Nord Stream 2 to Dodge Looming Deindustrialization - Bundestag MP

Three out of four Nord Stream pipelines running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea to provide Western Europe with natural gas were targeted in an act of deliberate sabotage last year. Germany has been one of the countries that have suffered the most from the pipelines’ destruction.

The branch of the Nord Stream pipeline that survived last year’s terrorist attack should be brought online in order to resume gas imports from Russia, a Bundestag MP for the AFD (Alternative für Deutschland) has insisted. Only recommencing energy flows from Russia will help Germany avoid looming deindustrialization, according to Steffen Kotre.

The lawmaker, who is also a member of the German parliamentary committee on energy and climate protection, told Russian media on Saturday that going along with the US-pushed and EU-embraced narrative of ditching Russian energy has been a grave error.

“The surge in gas prices leads to the deindustrialization of Germany. To ensure competitiveness, Germany should agree to purchase gas through the surviving branch of the Nord Stream pipeline,” said Kotre.

The German lawmaker added that "What the Chancellor [Olaf Scholz] is happy about is devastating for companies and private consumers." Kotre was referring to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s remarks applauding Germany’s efforts, albeit self-harming, to slash dependence on Russian energy.

The Nord Stream pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions in September 2022. The pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and that it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take. Denmark, Germany, and Sweden have left Russia out of their investigations into the attacks, prompting Moscow to launch its own investigation. Russia designated the attacks as international terrorism.

Despite one of the two branches of Nord Stream 2 surviving, German authorities have been reluctant to resume the certification process amid the rampant Western sanctions campaign targeting Moscow over Ukraine. Pointing out that Germany is forced to dish out more for alternative gas sources than it used to for cheap and reliable Russian energy, Steffen Kotre added:

“Russian gas is profitable and environmentally friendly, which is not the case with our current supplies – primarily liquefied natural gas from the US. Germany pays three to four times more for these supplies, but gas from the US produced by the fracking method does not meet our environmental standards.”

The US and EU have been pushing to wean themselves off Russian resources as part of a sanctions campaign over Ukraine, levelling swathes of sanctions on Moscow. While failing to “cripple” Russia’s economy, many of these restrictions have boomeranged, delivering tangible blowback on those who stooped to them. Major European economies like Germany have been facing the looming prospect of deindustrialization, mired in woes after dramatically scaling back imports of Russian oil and gas to try and “punish” Russia.

As for the Nord Stream sabotage, Russia circulated in the UN Security Council a draft statement by the council's president calling for condemnation of last year's terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said on Telegram in late September. The draft statement, seen by Sputnik, says the UN Security Council condemned the terrorist act against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and called for a thorough investigation.

No official results of the investigations have yet been announced, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February 2023 alleging that the explosions was organized by the United States with the support of Norway. Washington has denied any involvement in the incident. Furthermore, in mid-July, media reported that Dutch military intelligence had informed the CIA of Ukraine's plans to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines months before it happened.