{"id":54563,"date":"2019-12-13T15:50:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T07:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=54563"},"modified":"2019-12-13T15:50:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T07:50:44","slug":"europe-tells-us-to-back-off-over-russian-gas-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=54563","title":{"rendered":"Europe tells US to back off over Russian gas pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Germany<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Incoming pipelines leading to the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic circle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRUSSELS, Dec 113 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Europe warned Washington to mind its own business after US lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would sanction contractors working on a Russian pipeline to the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brussels “opposes the imposition of sanctions against any EU companies conducting legitimate business,” EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The (European) Commission objective has always been to ensure that Nord Stream operates in a very transparent and in a non-discriminatory way with the appropriate degree of oversight,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u20ac9.5 billion (US$10.6 billion) Nord Stream 2 pipeline will run under the Baltic Sea and is set to double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe’s biggest economy had particularly sharp words for Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“European energy policy is decided in Europe, not in the US,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We reject external interference,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German-Russian Chamber of Commerce (AHK) said the pipeline was important for the energy security of Europe as a whole and called for retaliatory sanctions against the United States if the bill passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Europe should respond to sanctions that damage Europe with counter-sanctions,” said AHK chief Matthias Schepp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters of the 1,230-kilometre line say it will be a reliable source of cheap energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany’s Schepp said the sanctions would end up affecting European companies more than Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half of the project is financed by Russian gas giant Gazprom, with the rest covered by its European partners: Germany’s Wintershall and Uniper, Anglo-Dutch Shell, France’s Engie and Austria’s OMV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German economy ministry said it was awaiting the result of a US Senate vote expected next week on the bill – part of much wider US defence legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US President Donald Trump has already said he would sign off on the measures if they are approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill requires the US State Department to report back within 60 days with the names of companies and individuals involved in pipe-laying for Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, another pipeline from Russia to Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions envisioned by the bill include asset freezes and revocation of US visas for the contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One major contractor that could be hit by the sanctions is Swiss-based pipeline laying company Allseas, which has been hired by Gazprom to build the offshore section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia had hoped to launch the pipeline in late 2019 but the completion has been delayed by difficulties in obtaining permits from Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, Copenhagen gave Russia a permit to build a section of the pipeline on the Danish continental shelf in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters last month that he expected the pipeline to become operational in mid-2020. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incoming pipelines leading to the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic circle BRUSSELS, Dec 113 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Europe warned Washington to mind its own business after US lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would sanction contractors working on a Russian pipeline to the continent. Brussels “opposes the imposition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[208,209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54563"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}