Nord Stream 2 and Russian gas: new tools of hybrid war

Written declaration No. 659 | Doc. 14554 | 27 April 2018

Signatories:

Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Marek AST, Poland, EC ; Mr Wojciech BAKUN, Poland, EC ; Mr Boryslav BEREZA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Włodzimierz BERNACKI, Poland, EC ; Lord David BLENCATHRA, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom, EC ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC ; Dame Cheryl GILLAN, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Nino GOGUADZE, Georgia, EC ; Mr Vladyslav GOLUB, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC ; Mr John HOWELL, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Serhii KIRAL, Ukraine, EC ; Ms Nellija KLEINBERGA, Latvia, ALDE ; Mr Józef LEŚNIAK, Poland, EC ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrii LOPUSHANSKYI, Ukraine, ALDE ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Jaak MADISON, Estonia, EC ; Ms Marianne MIKKO, Estonia, SOC ; Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, Poland, EC ; Mr Jarosław OBREMSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Jacek OSUCH, Poland, EC ; Mr Martin POLIAČIK, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Dominik TARCZYŃSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Tiit TERIK, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Morten WOLD, Norway, EC ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

Recently leaked files from the European Commission show covered-up abusive behaviour in favor of Gazprom by Brussels ("The Telegraph" article on 12 April 2018). This fact confirms political background to control energy supply to the European Union by Russian gas monopolist in collusion with European law and covert support by European officials. We expect that these facts will be adequately investigated.

We would like to draw attention to Nord Stream 2 (NS2) project that is far from being purely a commercial venture. NS2 makes no commercial sense for Gazprom. The only purpose justifying Gazprom’s active engagement in redundant pipeline projects is to circumvent the traditional gas transmission routes through Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary to pursue a geopolitical agenda by the Russian government.

NS2 will concentrate Russian gas delivery routes to the European Union under control of Gazprom. It will give the Russian Federation an exceptional ability to fluctuate between price dumping to discourage LNG supplies and halting supplies to enforce its political agenda. The Russian Federation has often used the language of gas blackmail against Eastern Europe. Therefore, we call all responsible European Union bodies to protect Europe from Russian efforts to create yet another means of hybrid war on the continent.