Nord Stream 2 wasn't discussed finding response to Salisbury poisoning
Western countries didn't discuss blocking the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline looking for a response to the Salisbury chemical attack, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser (SDE) said.
"In the context of the Skripal case, the subject of Nord Stream wasn't discussed this form," Mikser said at a press conference in Tallinn.
Mikser announced on Monday that Estonia will expel the Russian military attaché in Tallinn as a response to the chemical attack on a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter in the U.K. and has given the Russian diplomat one week to leave the country.
Mikser described the attaché as a diplomat who has performed actions inappropriate for a diplomat according to the Vienna Convention.
Leaders of the European Union on Thursday unanimously joined the assessment of the United Kingdom that it is extremely likely that Russia is behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack. The EU heads of government promised to fully support British Prime Minister Theresa May in the investigation to determine the details of the attack and coordinate further responses.
More than half of EU member states along with the United States, Canada, Australia, and Ukraine announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats on Monday.
While the EU has not made a final decision concerning the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be built by Russian gas giant Gazprom, it is generally believed that the project will not be blocked because of Germany's interest in it .
The plan to build a second undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea has raised concerns in Eastern European countries, which are cautious about the project's political and security implications.
"In my opinion, and this is an opinion that is shared by the Estonian government more broadly, this is a project that is not consistent with the main aims of the European Union's common energy policy, and this alone is a reason why this project should be abandoned," Mikser said.
The parliamentary speakers of the Baltic countries and Poland said in a statement at the beginning of this month that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline projected on the bottom of the Baltic Sea is an instrument of the state policy of Russia, which will make Europe more dependent on Russia. Nord Stream 2 is not about diversification of gas supply sources, but rather about deepening of energy dependence of the EU, and especially of Central and Eastern European countries, on Russia and, consequently, maintaining their vulnerability, the statement says.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS