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Germany, Austria tell U.S. not to interfere in EU energy policy

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While Nord Stream 2 pipe may be exposed to a US ban, Germany and Austria condemned a proposed expansion of U.S. sanctions on Russia, saying the measures sought to bolster U.S. economic interests and included an unacceptable intervention in the region’s energy sector.

“Europe’s energy supply is a matter for Europe, not the United States of America,’’ German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said in a joint statement. “Instruments for political sanctions should not be tied to economic interests.”

At the center of the criticism is the planned $10 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, that to some extent would compete with U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe. The 1,220 kilometer (758-mile) link, designed to cut Russia’s reliance on gas transit through Ukraine, would double the capacity of an existing route to Europe’s biggest economy.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will have “detrimental impacts on the European Union’s energy security,” and on reforms in Ukraine, according to an amendment added to a bill by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to tighten curbs against Russia. The U.S. will “continue to oppose the link,” according to the bill. The Senate passed the measure on Thursday. It still needs to be taken up by the House, where it may be revised, and the White House hasn’t yet made clear whether it’ll sign the bill.

Germany’s BASF SE and Uniper SE, as well as Austria’s OMV AG are among five European Union companies that planned to join the Nord Stream 2 project run by the Kremlin-backed Gazprom PJSC.

BASF’s Wintershall unit, Uniper, OMV together with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Engie SAagreed in April to provide loans for Nord Stream 2 to see it ready by the end of 2019. The project meanwhile is still opposed by politicians in Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Baltic States.

Gabriel and Kern said they “can’t accept” proposed U.S. sanctions targeting European energy companies as part of measures against Russia, according to the statement published Thursday.

Nord Stream 2 is a European project, developed in partnership with European companies that had already provided over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in funding before the latest U.S. bill was approved, according to Alexander Medvedev, the deputy chief executive officer of Gazprom. The project is in compliance with all existing EU regulations, he said, according to Bloomberg.

Gazprom also sees the U.S. move as an attempt to secure more exports to Europe, Medvedev said.

“If the senators believe that they can block Russian-American cooperation in energy and as a whole — God is their judge,” he said at a conference in Berlin. Trade and political ties between the countries have already dropped “to a very low level.”

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