The United States cannot be pressured by the International Court of Justice or the World Trade Organization. But this does not mean that Berlin does not have the resources to respond to Washington’s sanctions policy.
Writes about this edition “Die Zeit”.
As you know, the United States is persistently trying to prevent the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The American authorities openly threaten even European companies with sanctions – 120 enterprises may end up on the US blacklist. At the same time, Germany runs the risk of losing 12 billion euros invested in the pipeline.
The problem is not at all that gas supplies to Germany will rise in price by 4 billion euros every year. As noted in the media, it is unacceptable to put up with “the arbitrariness of the United States, which violates the norms of international law.”
Even in the last century, Washington tried to put pressure on Europe with the help of sanctions. The United States was unhappy with the fact that in 1970 German Chancellor Willy Brandt concluded an energy partnership with the Soviet Union. However, it was during the era of Donald Trump that the practice of pressure reached its climax.
The problem is that disputes with the United States cannot be resolved through the International Court of Justice or the World Trade Organization. Washington simply ignores decisions of international authorities if they contradict American interests. With this in mind, Europe does not have many options, but it does.
The publication recalled how US Senators Ron Johnson, Ted Cruise and Tom Cotton, disregarding the norms of international diplomacy, wrote a letter to the administration of the German port in Sassnitz. American politicians openly threatened with “immediate and crushing sanctions.”
Berlin could respond to this with the same “immediate and crushing” sanctions against US senators, banning them from entering Germany and making banking transactions.