Rob de Wijk: 'EU wants to end dependence on Russian gas'
On Energiepodium.nl, Rob de Wijk, Professor of International Relations and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, states that the Nord Stream 2 Project, a pipeline for Russian gas into Europe, causes a conflict between geopolitics and commerce.
Nord Stream 2 is the new pipeline that is to transport Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The stakes are high. Germany has the support of France, Austria and the Netherlands, but the European Commission has serious doubts.
Clash between geopolitics and commerce
According to Rob de Wijk, geopolitics and commerce come into conflict in this project. De Wijk’s first reason for saying this is the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine about transit fees, gas prices and unpaid gas bills. This caused a suspension of the gas supply to several Eastern European EU member states between 2006 and 2009. The second reason is the annexation of Crimea in 2014, which further deteriorated the relationship between the EU member states and Russia. As a third reason, de Wijk names the stress tests that were carried out to explore the consequences of a new blockage of the supply of Russian gas. His conclusion: ‘A long-term disruption of the gas supply would have serious consequences, primarily for the Eastern European member states.’
Read the full article on Energiepodium.nl (Dutch)