The bill for US sanctions for the planned Baltic Sea gas pipeline „Nord Stream 2“ from Russia to Germany has taken an important hurdle. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday voted against the bipartisan bill by 20 votes to two, the committee said.
In a next step, the Senate and then the House of Representatives would have to vote on the bill. If both chambers agree, then US President Donald Trump would still have to sign the law for it to come into force. Trump is critical of „Nord Stream 2“ and has attacked Germany several times.
Gas should flow as early as 2020
Nord Stream 2 will deliver gas from Russia to Germany, bypassing Poland and Ukraine. The draft, titled „Law for the Protection of Europe’s Energy Security“, provides for sanctions against the operators of the highly specialized vessels laying the pipes for the pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Managers could be banned from entering the United States.
For the laying of the „Nord Stream 2“ pipes are currently ships of an Italian and a Swiss company in use. Even their insurers could be affected by sanctions. According to media reports, Russia itself has no correspondingly highly specialized construction vessels, which operate only a few companies. In the 1,200-kilometer pipeline, Russian gas is expected to flow through the Baltic Sea to Europe from 2020 onwards.
