BERLIN: This seems to heavily undermine Europe’s attempt to send a message to Russia by expelling diplomats from their country.
Also, other European Union countries have tried to block this pipeline such as Poland, the Baltic states and other Eastern European countries.
These countries fear that this new Russian pipeline will leave them vulnerable to Russian geopolitical pressure.
The pipeline itself will transport 55billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
This month on a visit to Poland Heiko Maas, German foreign minister explained how there is no link between the Nord Stream 2 and the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.
A spokeswoman for the German ministry of economy and energy said: “Both developments have to be strictly separated. Our position has always been that Nord Stream 2 is a commercial project promoted by companies, which have to abide by the applicable national and EU rules.