All things indicate that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be completed after all, Piotr Naimski, Poland's Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, has stated in an interview with Polskie Radio.
Poland is one of the few states actively opposed to the completion of the joint pipeline project between Russia's Gazprom and several European energy giants. The said group also includes Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and the US. The latter imposed sanctions on the project under President Donald Trump.
However, Trump's successor, Democrat Joe Biden has not imposed any additional measures, despite calls from the US Congress to do so. Some 40 GOP senators expressed concern that the White House under Biden had not imposed any new sanctions on the pipeline since his inauguration on 20 January. Commenting on the new administration's policies towards Nord Stream 2, State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that Joe Biden's team remains committed to plans to oppose its construction.
"President Biden has called it a bad deal that divides Europe", Ned Price said, adding that the administration is strong in its commitment to prevent this project from being realised..
The US claims the pipeline would make the EU more dependent on Russian gas and thus would purportedly give the Kremlin leverage. Yet, the main proponents of the project, Germany and Austria have dismissed such allegations, stressing that Nord Stream 2 is an economic and not a political project. Previous American sanctions forced the Swiss contractor AllSeas to withdraw its pipe-laying ship, cutting short its cooperation with Nord Stream AG.
The pipeline's future operator quickly found a replacement vessel, resuming work on the project, which is 98% complete. Its new pipe-laying ship is scheduled to start working in Denmark's waters in March. Afterwards, it will move to finish the pipeline in German waters. Once complete, the endeavour will be able to supply some 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Europe.
