Undersea pipeline, meant to ferry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany, is owned by a subsidiary of Gazprom.
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Germany is halting the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline in light of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
The undersea pipeline, meant to ferry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany, is owned by a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom. Berlin has previously been reluctant to impose sanctions that would affect Nord Stream 2.
But at a press conference Tuesday, Scholz said that “the situation today is fundamentally different and therefore, in light of recent events, we must also reassess this situation … also with regard to Nord Stream 2.”
He said he had asked the German economy ministry to withdraw a binding opinion from October last year that stated the pipeline posed no security-of-supply threats.
“This sounds technical, but it is the necessary administrative step so that no certification of the pipeline can now take place,” Scholz added. “And without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot go into operation.”
Shortly after, the economy ministry announced it was halting the certification process.
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