Germany seeks to sooth Poland over Nord Stream

Germany has been trying to soothe opposition to plans to double the capacity of the current Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, writes Keith Nuthall. The country’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel recently travelled to Warsaw to mollify Poland’s new conservative government, which has been upset by the proposal.

Gabriel said the expansion would only go ahead if Russia renewed its gas transit contract with Ukraine after it ends in 2019, and also if Moscow promised to continue shipments to eastern Europe via the Yamal pipeline linking Russia with Poland, Belarus and Germany.

The diplomatic moves come as the European Commission examines the plan over concerns that it could break EU competition rules regarding dominant positions within the European Union single market – it does have the power to impose conditions if it concludes EU laws would be breached.

Brussels is also concerned about how focusing Russian supplies on one pipeline route could endanger EU security of gas supplies.

The current President of the European Council, Donald Tusk – a former Poland Prime Minister – has also indicated his unease. He has suggested that an expanded Nord Stream could deliver 80% of EU-bound Russian gas exports and potentially make Gazprom a dominant supplier to Germany. ‘Nord Stream does not help diversification, nor reduce energy dependency,’ he said.