Despite the Danish prime minister's statements, Copenhagen hasn't officially announced a decision on whether it will allow the Nord Stream pipeline to cross its national waters. Sputnik lists three reasons why Denmark can't really stop the Nord Stream 2 project from proceeding and why the country's permission is not essential for the project's success.
In the first place, all of the other major countries involved, namely Russia, Germany, Finland and Sweden have already issued papers permitting the construction of the pipeline in their waters. And such papers can only be deemed invalid in court, making the process of reversing such a decision quite complex and time-consuming.
READ MORE: Gazprom Expects No Rise in Nord Stream 2 Costs If Not Authorized by Denmark
Secondly, the Nord Stream pipeline can go around Danish waters and thus avoid Copenhagen's jurisdiction entirely. The only drawback with this would be a slight increase in the cost of the project. Actually the plans for such a course of action have already been drawn up and can be put into effect if necessary.
Thirdly, the idea of debating the Nord Stream project in EU as a whole is not new. Brussels has been working on it for some time, that is, until the legal service of the Council of the European Union ruled that the Union has no power to regulate offshore pipelines that cross countries' exclusive economic zones.
READ MORE: Danish PM May Block Nord Stream 2 While Russia Wants to De-Politicize Issue
Denmark is currently the last state yet to give a green light to the Nord Stream 2 project and it has been delaying the final decision for some time. Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen earlier noted that he had passed a bill that would allow Denmark to stop the pipeline "legally."
In addition to this, the US has been putting external pressure on EU states over the Nord Stream 2 project. Washington has threatened to impose sanctions under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on entities involved in the project, suggesting Europeans buy more expensive US LNG instead of Russian pipeline gas.
