The declassified document shows an assessment of Nord Stream 2 in October 2021. Angela Merkel stated that Russia has always been a reliable gas supplier.

Four months before a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany was still insisting that the opening of a new gas pipeline from Russia would not pose a threat to the energy supply of the country or the entire European Union.

Bloomberg writes about this with reference to a declassified report by the Ministry of Economy on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“Overall, the assessment concluded that the issuance of the certificate does not jeopardize the security of gas supplies to Germany and the European Union,” the then top secret report said.

According to the document, the government concluded that “both for the German and neighboring markets, the risk of serious breaches in the security of supply due to the failure of certain import supply infrastructures is very limited.”

The estimate is dated October 26, 2021, in the final months of Angela Merkel’s tenure as chancellor. Merkel supported the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and said that Russia has always been a reliable gas supplier. Toward the end of her term, Merkel acknowledged that it was an economic project with a “political dimension” but continued to assert that it would not threaten Europe’s energy supply.

Her successor, Olaf Scholz, who was finance minister and vice chancellor in Merkel’s ruling coalition, initially returned to the previous government line and called Nord Stream 2 a “purely economic” project. It wasn’t until shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that he reversed his position and ordered a halt to the certification process.

After the invasion, Scholz accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using gas supplies to wage an energy war with Europe. On Tuesday, Scholz said at an industry event that he had always believed that Putin would use energy as a “weapon.”

Merkel also denies any responsibility for the current energy crisis in Germany.

“You always act at the time you are in. In this regard, I do not regret the decisions made at all. Rather, I think it was right from the point of view of that time,” Merkel said in Lisbon on Thursday, answering a question about its energy policy towards Russia.

Nord Stream 2 – what is known

The Nord Stream 2 project provided for the construction of two gas pipelines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. It should have been launched  after certification .

On February 22, 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that  Germany had stopped the certification process for the  Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to him, this is a response to Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of the “LPR” and “DPR”. On the same day, the German Climate and Environment Protection Fund  refused to support  the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. It was created to circumvent US sanctions in order to complete construction.

On February 23, the United States of America  imposed sanctions against the operator of Nord Stream 2  in response to Russia’s recognition of the terrorist organizations “LPR” and “DPR”.

On March 1,  the Nord Stream 2 operator went bankrupt  due to Western sanctions imposed on Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine. Bankruptcy was confirmed by the government of the Swiss canton of Zug, where Nord Stream 2 AG was registered.

On August 23, Polish President Andrzej  Duda called for the dismantling of Nord Stream 2 .

On August 31, 2022, Gazprom  suspended  gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1. The company said that oil leaks were allegedly found on parts of the pipeline compressor and the equipment had to be shut down until they were fixed. But according to Siemens Energy, which normally maintains the Nord Stream turbines, such a breakdown should not stop the operation of the pipeline.

On the evening of September 2, the Russian gas company Gazprom  announced a complete halt to the  pumping of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for an indefinite period. The White House and the  European Commission  reacted  to the decision of the Russian Federation.

(C)UNIAN 2022