German politician Klaus Ernst, head of the Bundestag's Economic Affairs and Energy Committee, has declared that Germany has an opportunity to defend the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project while the US is willing to discuss this matter.
As Ernst suggested, Berlin should respond to possible sanctions against the pipeline projects by utilizing similar punitive measures.
"We should do the same thing the Americans do: enact sanctions against specific individuals, bar entry, maybe freeze deposits. Its' the same thing they threaten us with, it's the only thing they'll react to", he said as quoted by RIA Novosti.
The politician also suggested implementing penalty tariffs on imported natural gas from the US, and when members of the Green parliamentary faction called for banning the Nord Stream 2 project, he insisted that they are the only ones supporting this initiative.
"You are the only ones who seriously wants to abandon this project", he said, adding that they clearly know that such move would pave the way for importing US liquefied natural gas.
Nord Stream 2 is $10.5 billion project between Russia’s Gazprom and several major western European energy concerns. Once finished, the 1,230 km pipeline is expected to double the 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year capacity of the existing Nord Stream network, thus turning Germany into a major energy hub for deliveries further west.
