In an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, the German minister of environmental protection and nuclear safety, Svenja Schulze, stated that the Nord Stream 2 project is almost complete, the decision to build it was made years ago, and all permits were issued in accordance with the principles of the rule of law.
“The decision to build the pipeline was made many years ago. It is almost complete and has been granted permits in accordance with the principles of the rule of law”, – the minister recalled. – “If we were to stop the project now, we would cause enough harm by questioning the credibility of the decisions made based on the principles of the rule of law and would probably face litigation”, – she said.
Schulze pointed out that after the phase-out of coal and nuclear power, Germany would need natural gas for a transitional period – before it could fully secure its energy supply from renewable sources.
“Germany itself has almost no natural gas reserves of its own, so we are dependent on imports here”, – she explained.
Discussions about the future implementation of Nord Stream 2 have flared up again in Germany following the Alexei Navalny incident and against the backdrop of US sanctions against the project.