When Germany gave refuge to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny last summer following his Kremlin-ordered poisoning, the act was praised as another chapter in chancellor Angela Merkel’s defense of liberal values, and her defiance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ruthless power politics. On the question of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic pipeline, however, Merkel and Putin are aligned in supporting the project’s completion. Germany’s posture on Nord Stream 2 has caused controversy on both sides of the Atlantic, undermining Merkel’s opposition to Putin’s regional aggressions and autocratic style, and threatening to isolate Germany from its NATO allies on an issue with implications far beyond energy policy.
Begun in 2012, Nord Stream 2 is a 746 miles long undersea liquid natural gas pipeline connecting St. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland to Greifswald on Germany’s Baltic coast. The project has stoked tension between Germany and most of its NATO allies since 2014, when Russia occupied Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and began arming separatist insurgents in that country’s eastern provinces. The United States and most of Europe view Nord Stream 2 as a Russian ploy to pressure Ukraine. With the project’s completion, Russia will no longer rely on Ukrainian pipelines to reach European energy markets. Thus, Europe’s energy supply will be insulated from events in Ukraine, allowing Russia to deny gas shipments to its western neighbor and to deepen the conflict there without diminishing its lucrative energy exports. For these reasons, the U.S. Congress last year passed legislation sanctioning any company that participates in Nord Stream 2, interrupting work on the pipeline’s final 50 miles. Merkel has defended the project, arguing that economic collaboration with Russia can only moderate its bellicose behavior abroad. The fate of Nord Stream 2, and the rift it has provoked in NATO, is another thorny challenge President Biden faces in an unquiet Europe.
Questions and Background
- Is Moscow’s motivation behind Nord Stream 2 geopolitical or economic? Does it matter?
- What are the risks of Europe becoming more dependent on Russian energy?
- Given that Nord Stream 2 is virtually complete, should the U.S. avoid antagonizing Germany or continue to support other allies like Poland and Ukraine that oppose the project?
- Whether through private investments in the U.K. and U.S. or collaborative projects like Nord Stream 2 with Germany, how effective has Russian economic influence been in shaping Western responses to its foreign policy?
It’s Time to Checkmate Nord Stream II
Daniel Kochis. The Heritage Foundation. March 3, 2021.
Will Anything Stop Putin’s Pet Project?
Chris Miller. The New York Times. February 25, 2021.
Biden’s Transatlantic Opening
AHS’s Gary Schmitt. American Enterprise Institute. February 22, 2021.
Biden’s Got A Berlin Problem
Dalibor Rohac and Ivana Stradner. National Review. January 31, 2021.
To Silence Navalny, Putin Will Try to Enlist the West
Jeremy Stern. Foreign Affairs. January 27, 2021.