Merkel: Nord Stream 2 pipeline does not threaten EU energy security
Germany regards the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as an economic project that does not threaten the European Union, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We are also for energy diversification. We also want Ukraine to continue to have transit gas traffic, but we believe Nord Stream poses no danger to diversification," Merkel said at a joint news conference after meeting with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The Polish Prime Minister objected to Merkel, stating " I do not agree…that Nord Stream 2 means diversification because the gas comes from the same source, just through a different route." According to Morawiecki, he spoke in favor of extending the regulations of the EU's Third Energy Package to Nord Stream 2 at the meeting with Merkel.
Merkel said that Poland and Germany are continuing negotiations on this issue.
In late January, Germany allowed Nord Stream 2 AG (the project operator company) to begin construction of the offshore section of the gas pipeline in the country’s territorial waters. Germany also approved the construction of a receiving terminal.
Nord Stream 2 AG has said that procedures for obtaining permits in the other countries along the pipeline route - Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark - are on schedule.