Poland Resents Nord Stream 2

Germany has allowed Russia’s Gazprom to build and operate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the country’s territorial waters. 

The decision comes as bad news for Poland, which fears Nord Stream 2 will increase Europe’s dependence on imported Russian gas.

In a last-ditch attempt to thwart the construction of the strategic pipeline, which is to run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has asked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to make sure that US sanctions cover Nord Stream 2 and that European companies involved in the project be fined, Sputnik reported.

“Yes, we talked about Nord Stream 2. We want the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to fall under the US sanctions bill … which includes, among others, sanctions against Russia,” the Polish premier said in an interview on Monday.

Deputy Director of the Russian Humanitarian University’s International Business School Lyudmila Studenikina explains Warsaw’s emphasis on the two countries’ shared anti-Russian sentiments as an attempt to cash in on the desire of US shale gas companies to enter the EU fuel market.

“These statements and actions are dictated by geopolitical considerations, including Washington’s plans to gain a foothold in and eventually dominate the European energy market,” she told RIA Novosti. The Americans want to use Poland as a gateway to Europe.

Last year, Poland’s state-owned oil and gas company PGNiG became the first in the EU to sign a five-year contract for liquefied natural gas deliveries from the United States.

Since then, 14 tankers carrying liquefied natural gas from the US have arrived in the Polish port of Swinoujscie, bringing 1.6 billion cubic meters of gas. 

Poland’s annual consumption of natural gas is 15 billion cubic meters, two-thirds of which come from Russia.