Editorial Analysis for Civil Services - NORD STREAM 2

NORD STREAM 2

About: 

  • This 1,200-kilometer pipeline goes through the Baltic Sea from Russia’s Ust-Luga to Germany’s Greifswald. It will transport 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
  • In 2015, it was determined to construct this pipeline.
  • The Nord Stream 1 system is now operational, and when combined with NS2P, it will provide Germany with 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Implications:

The EU’s Reliance on Russia:

  • It will increase Europe’s natural gas dependence on Russia; currently, EU (European Union) countries rely on Russia for 40% of their gas needs.

Bypassing Ukraine: A pipeline currently connects Russia and Europe through Ukraine; however, if the NS2P project is done, it will bypass Ukraine, denying it a large transit fee of roughly $ 3 billion per year.

Russia has won a geopolitical victory:

  • It has the potential to be a generational geopolitical success for Russia and a disaster for the US and its allies.

The United States’ New Position: 

A Gentler Threat to Russia: 

  • The United States has chosen the gentler option of threatening Russia with consequences if it uses the pipeline to hurt Ukraine or other eastern European countries.
  • On the one hand, it wants access to Russia’s hydrocarbons, but it also distrusts Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom it accuses of a series of transgressions, including the 2014 Crimean conflict and alleged meddling in US elections in 2016 and 2020.
  • Germany’s own anti-Russia legislation:
  • If ‘Russia attempts to utilize energy as a weapon and perform more aggressive acts against Ukraine,’ the US-Germany agreement states that Germany will impose sanctions and limit Russian exports on its own.
  • Germany must “use all available leverage” to extend the current Russia-Ukraine gas transit agreement by ten years, according to the Green Fund for Ukraine.
  • In addition, Germany must contribute at least $175 million to a new $1 billion “Green Fund for Ukraine” aimed at increasing the country’s energy independence.

Source: THE HINDU.