Nord Stream 2 shows lacks of EU solidarity: Polish president
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
12.10.2018 15:19
The construction of a new Russia-Germany gas pipeline despite a lack of approval from all European Union members shows a lack of solidarity within the bloc, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Friday.
Andrzej Duda at the V4 meeting. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański.
At a press conference culminating a two-day meeting of the presidents of the V4 states -- Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the host of the summit, Slovakia -- Duda said the needs and concerns of countries in the European community needed to be taken into account.
He said that the V4 criticised the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will send Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine, because those countries "understand that this project is not of a business nature, but of a political nature, which in reality is damaging to the European Union."
Duda added that the pipeline would threaten the energy security of Central and Eastern Europe and would result in one supplier dominating the European Union market.
"We think that, from the point of view of the interests of the entire European Union, this is detrimental, and we say so strongly. But as it turns out, ours is a voice calling out in the woods and the project is going ahead against the interests of some European Union countries," Duda said.
"Is this really acting as a community? Well, I think that anyone who looks at it will say that no, that is not how a community works," Duda added.
(vb/pk)
Source: PAP