02:47Norway: 'That was naive’ - Habeck claims building Nord Stream 2 after Crimea conflict 'wrong from the start'
Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck claimed that his country's decision to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was 'wrong from the start', during a speech at the NHO (Conference of Norwegian Enterprise, in Oslo on Thursday.
"That was naive, some political decisions in the past years have been wrong, I would say have been a mistake especially the dependency of Russian gas, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2," he stated.
"Putin started his first war in Ukraine, occupying Crimea and the Donbass region and one year later in 2015 the decision to build NordStream 2 had been taken so this is not understandable and it was wrong from the start," he continued.
Habeck’s speech came the same day Norway's state-run Equinor and Germany's RWE struck a deal on supplying Germany with low emission hydrogen fuel, subjected to a new hydrogen pipeline.
Germany was previously heavily reliant on Russian gas via the NordStream 1 pipeline, blaming Moscow for energy 'blackmail' following supply reductions last year, while Russia said Western sanctions were hampering essential maintenance.
Both pipelines were damaged in September in what all sides claimed was 'sabotage'.
Work on Nord Stream 2 had been unilaterally suspended by Berlin in February 2022 following the conflict in Ukraine. The deal to build it was initially signed in September 2015, 18 months after a referendum was held in Crimea which found that 97 percent of voters wanted Russian integration.
Moscow backed the decision, while Kiev and much of the West refused to recognise the legitimacy of the vote.
Russia also supported the right to what it called self-determination of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass, launching the 2022 military offensive after recognising their independence.
Moscow claimed that Kiev had failed to guarantee the regions’ special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, while Ukraine denounced the action as an invasion.
02:47Mandatory Credit:The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO)
Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck claimed that his country's decision to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was 'wrong from the start', during a speech at the NHO (Conference of Norwegian Enterprise, in Oslo on Thursday.
"That was naive, some political decisions in the past years have been wrong, I would say have been a mistake especially the dependency of Russian gas, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2," he stated.
"Putin started his first war in Ukraine, occupying Crimea and the Donbass region and one year later in 2015 the decision to build NordStream 2 had been taken so this is not understandable and it was wrong from the start," he continued.
Habeck’s speech came the same day Norway's state-run Equinor and Germany's RWE struck a deal on supplying Germany with low emission hydrogen fuel, subjected to a new hydrogen pipeline.
Germany was previously heavily reliant on Russian gas via the NordStream 1 pipeline, blaming Moscow for energy 'blackmail' following supply reductions last year, while Russia said Western sanctions were hampering essential maintenance.
Both pipelines were damaged in September in what all sides claimed was 'sabotage'.
Work on Nord Stream 2 had been unilaterally suspended by Berlin in February 2022 following the conflict in Ukraine. The deal to build it was initially signed in September 2015, 18 months after a referendum was held in Crimea which found that 97 percent of voters wanted Russian integration.
Moscow backed the decision, while Kiev and much of the West refused to recognise the legitimacy of the vote.
Russia also supported the right to what it called self-determination of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass, launching the 2022 military offensive after recognising their independence.
Moscow claimed that Kiev had failed to guarantee the regions’ special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, while Ukraine denounced the action as an invasion.