Germany halts Nord Stream 2 certification
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told this to journalists in Berlin on Tuesday, February 22, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
The federal government is suspending the certification process for the pipeline project, "and without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot be launched," Scholz said.
According to him, on Tuesday morning the chancellor instructed Economy Minister Robert Habeck to order the Federal Network Agency to suspend the process and reassess security risks of energy supply taking into account new factors. This is a technical issue, but it is necessary from a legal point of view to ensure that the certification process could not take place, Scholz said.
"In this phase, it is important to prevent further escalation and, consequently, a catastrophe with the help of the first sanctions," Scholz said.
He noted that Germany's energy sector currently depends on natural gas, about 50% of which is Russian gas. He also noted that Germany has long begun to reduce its dependence on gas.
Berlin is exploring opportunities to diversify import opportunities. This is a big European task, the chancellor added.
The situation remains very tense as Russian troops remain where they have been in recent weeks, and their number is sufficient to carry out full-scale aggression, and "no one can say how the situation will develop in the future," Scholz said. According to him, NATO and the EU must act swiftly in this situation. He stressed that Berlin and its partners "do not accept the recognition" of illegal "republics" in eastern Ukraine.
According to Scholz, Germany wants to continue to be "a financial stabilizer of Ukraine."
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir signed decrees recognizing two self-proclaimed entities in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
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