EU is planning the final stop for north stream: never again gas from Russia!

EU is planning the final stop for north stream: never again gas from Russia!

Lubmin, Deutschland - The discussion about the North Stream gas lines unfolds in view of the continuing geopolitical tensions between the EU and Russia. The EU plans to prevent the repair and restart of the North Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in order to end the dependence on Russian gas once and for all. The measures are part of a new sanction package that could come into force in the next few hours or days, but requires the unanimous consent of all EU countries. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and CDU chairman Friedrich Merz are the driving forces behind this initiative. Merz has also clearly spoken out for sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and emphasizes that the use of the lines should be categorically blocked in order to financially weaken Russia against Ukraine. The rems newspaper Sanction package against Russia, while working on an 18th, which is supposed to contain a ban on north stream.

The political positions for the North Stream debate are, however, deeply split. While some politicians, such as the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, advocate the recovery of the pipelines to secure energy supply in Germany and even propose to cover 20% of the gas requirement through Russian imports, others warn of the geopolitical risks of this dependency. Critics such as Felix Banaszak, the chairman of the Greens, consider Kretschmer's proposal to be questionable and counterproductive for European independence. Boltwiese emphasizes that the discussion raises fundamental questions about energy policy and geopolitical orientation.

role of the USA and the market

The background of the discussion is not insignificant: after the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, European countries, companies and citizens experienced a dramatic increase in natural gas prices, which many presented with a gas deficiency. The EU then decided to do without energy imports from Russia by 2027. A strategic plan for departing Russian gas was presented with the aim of not concluding new contracts with Russian suppliers by the end of 2027. As early as 2024, the proportion of Russian gas at EU imports is to be reduced to 19%, whereby it is to be reduced to 13% in 2023. The Süddeutsche Zeitung emphasizes that the EU has also made progress in the search for alternatives to Russian gas, such as LNG imports.

The current situation reflects a multi -layered geopolitical dynamic that has both economic and security policy implications. The coming months will show which direction the EU will take in its energy policy and whether the efforts to become independent by Russian energy imports can actually be realized.