Moldovan and Ukrainian MPs speak against Nord Stream 2

Speaker of the Moldovan parliament Andrian Candu and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Parubiy have addressed chairs of the European Union parliaments regarding “the potential threat” of implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project (a main gas pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea).

The authors of the letter call the project a destabilizing factor and “an attempt of the Russian leadership to influence European countries and weaken Ukraine and Moldova.” According to them, despite the fact that the project is presented as a commercial one, in fact it is a tool of the Russian national policy.

The chairs of the Moldovan and Ukrainian parliaments stress that Nord Stream 2 should be treated in a wider context of Russia’s hostile information and cyber activities and military aggression.

“We are calling on European countries to limit Russia’s capability of performing its aggressive policy and make sure that operation of Nord Stream 2 fully complies with the EU legislation, particularly provisions of the Third Energy Package,” the letter says.

The chair of the Ukrainian parliament noted that the letter will also be signed by parliamentary leaders of Lithuania and Poland at a meeting in Vilnius. “This is the case when we can speak unanimously,” Parubiy said.

Nord Stream 2 envisages construction and operation of two main gas pipelines with total capacity of 55 bn c m of gas annually. Opponents of the project (Poland, the Baltic countries and Denmark) insist that the project is aimed at increasing Europe’s dependence on the Russian Gazprom that now supplies about one third of the gas Europe needs.