Germany Consents to NS2 Route

Germany has consented to the Nord Stream 2 line crossing its exclusive offshore economic zone, Russian gas giant Gazprom said March 27, meaning all permits for the German section have now been received. This is the first of five countries whose approval is needed.

Germany’s maritime and hydrographic agency (BSH) issued the permit for the 30-km section in accordance with the federal mining law.

Earlier, the Stralsund Mining Authority approved the roughly 55-km section of the route, plus landfall in Lubmin, in accordance with Germany’s energy industry law, which covers planning approval for NS2 construction and operation, it said January 31. "We are pleased that all necessary permits are now in place for the German route section, which has an overall length of 85 km," said Jens Lange, permitting manager for Germany at NS2.

The national permitting procedures in the other four countries along the route – Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark – are proceeding as planned. Further permits are expected to be issued in the coming months, with Russia expected to be last.

Accordingly, scheduled construction works are to be implemented in 2018 as planned, the company noted. However Denmark might choose to apply a newly amended law on the continental shelf to insist the pipeline moves further offshore, adding time and money to the project. And Sweden is yet to approve its route through its own exclusive economic zone.

Washington is also opposed to it. A senior US diplomat expressed concerns over the Russia-backed NS2 gas pipeline project in the the strongest terms, addressing an event in Brussels March 20. US senators wrote to the government March 15 appealing for the application of sanctions to stop the line.  They referred to the growing danger of Russia’s monopoly on the European Union’s energy market.

NS2 continues to divide Europe’s political leaders, Poland and Ukraine being firmly opposed while Germany and others say it is purely a commercial project. However relations between Russia and Germany have worsened in the last few days, following the expulsion of four Russian diplomats. Denmark is also preparing to expel two, and Sweden and Finland, the other two EU countries involved, one each.

So far 26 nations have ordered varying numbers of Russian officials to leave their postings, totalling 143 at time of press, in response to the attempted murder of former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal. Moscow has been blamed for the use of military-grade nerve agent on foreign soil, with no credible alternative aggressor named.