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Polish MPs urge EU, NATO states to stop Nord Stream 2 pipeline

16.06.2021 09:15
Polish deputies have passed a motion calling on EU and NATO countries to take action to stop the construction of the contested Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany.
Pipes for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline and the Russian ship Akademik Cherskiy seen at the German port of Mukran in September 2020.
Pipes for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline and the Russian ship Akademik Cherskiy seen at the German port of Mukran in September 2020. Photo: EPA/CLEMENS BILAN

The motion, adopted by the lower house of Poland’s parliament on Tuesday, warns that the gas link would open the way for Russia to mount an armed attack on Ukraine.

"Nord Stream 2, by enabling Russia to stop transiting gas through the territory of Ukraine to its main recipients - including the Federal Republic of Germany, will open the way for Russia to a large-scale armed attack on Ukraine without the risk of incurring the costs of disrupting this transit as a result of military operations," the motion says.

Appeal to US

It also calls on the United States to maintain and extend sanctions targeting entities involved in the construction of the pipeline.

Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, is expected to send around 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas a year directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea while bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine.

Poland has strongly criticized the gas link amid concerns that the pipeline will make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has told American magazine Newsweek he is “very disappointed” that US President Joe Biden has refused to implement sanctions on the company building the pipeline.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP