Denmark Hesitating About Nord Stream 2 Construction Over US Pressure

Member of the Russian upper house defense and security committee says that Denmark is hesitating about Nord Stream 2 construction because of the US pressure amid the new package of anti-Russia sanctions.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Danish authorities have started hesitating about Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction under pressure of Washington, member of the Russian upper house defense and security committee Alexey Pushkov said Saturday.

Danish media reported earlier in the day, that the country's government had prepared a draft bill that requires the Danish Foreign Ministry to be the first to assess requests for permission to build pipelines, which might lead to the rejection of the demand of Nord Stream 2 AG, the same-name pipeline's operator.

"The plot against Nord Stream 2: now Denmark is involved in it. Its government has 'become alarmed' only after the US sanctions. The source of pressure is obvious," Pushkov wrote on Twitter.

Nord Stream 2, a joint venture of Russia’s Gazprom with France's Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, Royal Dutch Shell and Germany's Uniper, envisages the construction of a pipeline with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. The pipeline is planned to be laid along the existing Nord Stream pipeline route from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea and on to a hub in Germany. The pipeline will go through territorial or special economic zones of several countries, including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.

The new package of anti-Russia sanctions signed by US President Donald Trump in early August contains, among other things, measures against Russia’s energy projects, including those implemented in Europe like the Nord Stream 2. According to many experts and several senior European officials, the new restrictions are aimed at squeezing Russian natural gas out of the European market and promoting US LNG supplies instead.