Czech Republic Supports the Implementation of Nord Stream-2

The Czech Republic supports the implementation of the project for the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, stated Czech President Milos Zeman while in Russia on a five-day official visit.

"Based on the materials, and based on the position of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, I can express the support of the Czech Republic for the Nord Stream 2 project," Zeman was quoted as saying by TV Barrandov.

The Czech president is also said to have noted that, "some countries criticize the project," but "the Czech Republic has its own position and defends its own interests”.

In the past, the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that a number of European countries, despite the obvious benefit of implementing the project for Europe as a whole, are trying to exert pressure on Russia and its European partners participating in the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.

Today, the construction of Nord Stream-2 is provoking even greater resonance in the EU, as a number of countries, mainly Eastern Europe, have come out strongly opposed to the project, claiming it a political rather than economic project that allegedly “violates the EU's ‘energy unity’” and encourages “dependence on Russian energy supplies”.

The fate of the project largely depends not on the economic, but on the geopolitical component. Several strong players, especially Germany, still insist that the gas pipeline should be built for economic reasons. Severely opposed to Nord Stream-2 are the US, who are trying to lobby in Europe for the supply of their own liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The benefit for Berlin is obvious: Germany will become the main gas hub through which the distribution of "blue fuel" to other EU countries will pass.

Poland and Slovakia actively oppose the gas pipeline: if it is to be built, these countries are likely to lose their cash receipts for the transit of Russian gas. Further, Poland has an interest in preventing the construction of the Nord Stream-2, with Warsaw trying to impose its own role on Europe in promoting American LNG gas, hoping in return to become a major gas hub for the supply of this type of fuel.

Italy, in principle, is annoyed by the position of Brussels and opposes the project because the European officials actually blocked another Russian project - South Stream, which is very beneficial for the Italian side. Italy says it fails to understand why Russian gas should go to Europe, not through the Black Sea, as previously thought, but through the Baltic, through which another Russian gas pipeline, the Nord Stream-1, is already passing to Germany.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages the construction of two branches of the gas main through the Baltic Sea, the total volume of which will amount to 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Dimitri Dolaberidze