MERKEL: NORD STREAM WAS NECESSARY FOR THE GERMAN ECONOMY

Merkel reaffirmed her commitment to building the pipeline and stressed that one of her main goals is to get cheap gas for the German economy

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she still believes the decision to build Nord Stream 2 was the right one and highlighted the damage that high gas prices do to the country's economy.

"I saw this [building a new pipeline] as one of my tasks: to get cheap gas for the German economy. Now we see the consequences of high energy prices for our country," Merkel said in an interview with Der Spiegel.

She also referred to the political situation at the time: "I would not have had a political majority and certainly no support from the business community to stop gas trade with Russia."

However, the former chancellor rejected accusations that she helped finance Russia's attack on Ukraine. "Russia started the war without gas from Nord Stream 2." Today, other countries are adding money to Putin's war," Merkel stressed.

The Nord Stream 2 project was launched in 2015. Pipeline laying began in September 2018 and was completed only in September 2021, largely due to the position of the United States, which was against the project. Merkel, then chancellor, on the contrary, defended the project.

However, gas never passed through Nord Stream 2: after the start of the military operation, Germany suspended certification of the project, and the United States imposed sanctions against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 AG.

At the end of September 2022, explosions occurred in Nord Stream, leaving only one branch of SP-2 intact. Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipeline, announced an unprecedented destruction and refused to predict when the pipelines would be back in operation. The emergency occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. The investigation is being conducted by law enforcement agencies from both countries, and Russia has not been included.