On September 26, impressive leaks preceded by underwater explosions were identified on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Until Thursday, there were a total of four such leaks, which would be the result of sabotage according to the Danish and Swedish authorities who are leading the investigation. At this time, it is impossible to know who is behind this probable sabotage but it leaves us two questions.
Who gains most from the situation?
For the expert in geopolitics and energy, the American track remains very probable. “When we look at who benefits from the crime, it is not especially Russia, it is certainly not the Europeans who are on the contrary weakened in their gas supply. So, to whom? To the producers, suppliers and exporters of LNG, namely the United States, Qatar, Australia… We cannot say anything, but objectively, they are the ones who profit and benefit from the situation.
As is known, Washington is one of the toughest opponents of Nord Stream gas pipelines and has been for years widely spoken out against the launch of Nord Stream 2. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 7, the US President Joe Biden had already raised the possibility of “ending” it if Moscow intervened militarily in Ukraine. “If Russia invades (Ukraine), then there will be no more Nord Stream 2,” said Joe Biden.
“Either the United States decided on this sabotage to ensure the decoupling of Russia and Europe. It would be a way to ensure that Russia definitely no longer has an economic-energy link with the EU,” explains Olivier Schmitt, professor of political science at the Center for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark.
Maria Zakharowa, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference that the US is profiting from the situation related to the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. “There is one absolute beneficiary of this situation -Washington. They talked so much about why Nord Stream should be destroyed, shut down, removed from the agenda and why it would be beneficial to the US. They told Americans so much why Nord Stream is unprofitable for America, let them listen again and understand who is the beneficiary of this situation after the explosions on Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2,” said Zakharowa.
According to Zakharova, the US “failed to freeze the project politically, to wipe it out economically, and that’s what happened on September 25, 26 and 27, when its threads exploded”. “After all, the US Secretary of State Anthon Blinekn did not hide the fact that the main goal is to detach Europe from Russian energy resources and now he does not know who will benefit from it? It is you who will benefit”, she added.
What will be the future for the Europe?
It is claimed that these leaks do not directly threaten Europe’s winter energy supply since the Nord Stream 1 had been shut down at the end of August and Nord Stream 2 was never commissioned due to the war in Ukraine. However, this likely sabotage has significant economic consequences and raises new questions about energy security in Europe.
“It seems to be an act prepared for a long time, thought to create a crisis situation in the energy market. This generates storage and speculation behaviors that drive up prices and destabilize economies,” observes Cédric Tellenne, specialist in energy geopolitics. On Tuesday, the prices of gas contracts for the month of October thus jumped by 22%.
To make matters worse, these leaks destroyed the last hope of European people. They would be able to get gas from Russia through Nord Stream 1 by the end of the year. The explosions make it impossible for the Europe and Russia to restore their energy relations, which, in fact, were gradually interrupted by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The long history of energy cooperation between Europe and Russia is rapidly moving towards an end.
Written by Tanja Braun exclusively for NAT – News about Turkey
Tanja Braun was born in 1990 in Brandenburg. She studied political science and a little economics in Berlin and Vienna. Now she works in Brandenburg. She also writes about political, economic and social issues in free time.
News about Turkey offers readers different points of view. The opinion expressed in this text is not necessarily shared by NAT.
