Germany has allowed Russia’s Gazprom to build and operate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the country’s territorial waters.
The decision comes as bad news for Poland, which fears Nord Stream 2 would will increase Europe’s dependence on imported Russian gas.
In a last-ditch attempt to thwart the construction of the strategic pipeline, which is to run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has asked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to make sure that US sanctions cover Nord Stream 2 and that European companies involved in the project be fined.
“Yes, we talked about Nord Stream 2. We want the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to fall under the US sanctions bill…which includes, among others, sanctions against Russia,” the Polish PM said in a newspaper interview on Monday.