The German parliament's (Bundestag) research firm has found the sanctions imposed by the US on German businesses in retaliation against the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline project are not in breach of international law.
Nord Stream 2 stock image. Credit: Ksanawo / Shutterstock
The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline stands to double Russian natural gas exports to Europe. Credit: Ksanawo / Shutterstock
According to the report filed by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, providing the US acted moderately in imposing its restrictions, invoking the protection of national security interests and the negative impact on its own economy, "international law can do very little to prevent the adoption of extraterritorial sanctions.
The report adds that even if a direct impact of the Nord Stream 2 on the national security of the United States is unlikely, indirect effects can and should not be excluded.
The authors concluded that the German government should seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the US.
The sanctions conducted by the US are legally controversial because they do not directly protect the area, the citizens or companies of the sanctioning state. Back in August, US senators issued specific threats against a German company, operating in the Baltic port of Mukran on Rügen, which is the most important transhipment point involved in the construction of the pipeline, which was stopped in December 2019 due to the sanctions.
The German federal government explicitly rejects such sanctions and the European Commission has issued statements that declare such actions as in violation of international law.
However, the Bundestag experts do not consider them to be so, and they say the complaints of the US cannot be dismissed out of hand.
They added: "Even if a direct impact of the Nord Stream 2 project on the national security of the United States is remote, indirect impacts cannot be ruled out.
"According to the exception clauses in the friendship treaty and in the WTO regulations, the United States is free to define its national security concerns independently."
The German government has considered scrapping the project entirely after US sanctions became firmer, which has been contested by shareholders, several of the country's neighbours and the US government. The project is nearing completion, with only about 120km of pipeline left to be laid.
Its intention is to carry natural gas from Russia directly to Germany through the pipeline that extends under the Baltic Sea. Supporters argue the pipeline is a commercial investment that is key to security with Europe's supplying of natural gases as domestic production continues to decline, while detractors, including the US, claim it will make Germany and the other countries provided too reliant on Russia for its supply chains.
An additional report by German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel claims that the German government has been using scenarios from Nord Stream 2 AG in its argument that Europe will need an additional 100 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The economy ministry has confirmed this, according to emails sent to Green MP Oliver Krischer, who referred to the process bizarre and said: “One can't use outdated data from Nord Stream AG and thus directly from Gazprom and Vladimir Putin to justify pipelines."
Georg Ismar, a journalist for Der Tagesspiegel, writes: “It remains remarkable, therefore, that even today there are obviously no calculations or even syntheses of the federal government's own results -- on a highly controversial topic of eminent importance in terms of foreign policy and energy policy."
The arguments put forward by the US on the threat of national security could be perceived as advanced but are ultimately the “the result of a political margin of discretion which can hardly be made justifiable in practice”, the report adds.
"There are also no objective criteria under international law to legally contain the interpretation and application of the principle of protection."
Many German politicians do not agree with the experts' assessments. Left-wing MP's calls for the German government to go to the International Court of Justice to deal with the situation.
She said: "The federal government must not give in to President Trump and his brazen sanctions threats."
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