Ex-NATO chief says Nord Stream 2 is disaster for Europe: report

The daily also reported that Rasmussen said that the pipeline -- which after completion will pump 55 billion cubic metres of gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, circumventing Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic States -- was a geopolitical project.

The daily cited an interview published on the onet.pl website, in which Rasmussen said that the European Union had spent EUR 5 billion on diversifying energy supplies in a bid to reduce dependence on Russia, adding that Nord Stream 2 would be an unnecessary step backwards, Gazeta Prawna reported.

Gas dependence

The former NATO chief also said that Russia wanted to maintain German and European gas dependence on Moscow, Gazeta Prawna reported.

The paper cited Rasmussen as saying that Russia was trying to disrupt European and transatlantic unity.

Rasmussen said that the pipeline was viewed with scepticism by many politicians in the European Union, including some from Germany, adding that, while the bloc would be unable to block construction, it could make Nord Stream 2 less financially worthwhile, the paper said.

Rasmussen also said that potential US sanctions which could be enforced against energy companies involved in the pipeline could see financing withdrawn from the project, but that this might not lead to the project’s failure, the paper reported.

Poland praised

The former NATO chief praised Poland for its “true leadership" in European Union energy policy through initiatives such as the Three Seas -- the Poland-led partnership of 12 countries located between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas, the paper added.

He also said the Baltic Pipe project that is to connect Norway with Poland was debunking the idea that energy should only be imported from Russia, Gazeta Prawna said.

Rasmussen said that Berlin should take Poland as an example on how to run a strategic and solidary European energy policy, the paper reported.

(vb/pk)