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Friday, 19.04.2024, 06:00
Lithuania, Denmark to press Brussels over Nord Stream 2
Linas Linkevicius, the Lithuanian diplomacy
chief, said Vilnius and Copenhagen would harmonize their positions on the Nord
Stream 2 project.
"We will harmonize our argumentation in the sense
that we will definitely make an impact, as the position is clear, the political
stance has been stated repeatedly," Linkevicius said at a joint news
conference with his Danish counterpart, Anders Samuelsen.
Lithuania and Denmark believe that gas pipeline
project, which is being developed by Russia's Gazprom and a few other European companies, would make
Europe more dependent on Russian gas and undermine Ukraine as a transit
country.
Nord Stream 2 developers seek the gas pipeline to be
laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and cross Denmark's territorial waters
before reaching Germany.
The Danish government has confirmed receipt of the
request, pledging to look into it, at the same time drafting legal bills that
would allow blocking the pipeline due to foreign and security policy reasons.
Nevertheless, Samuelsen emphasized that Denmark would
not engage in unilateral blocking of the entire project and would seek to press
the European Commission.
"We do no think that it is fair that it's only
Denmark, as a small country, that should make a decision on a big issues like
this. Therefore, we are trying to convince the commission to understand the
question," said Samuelsen.
Miguel Arias Canete, the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, has recently
stated that the Nord Stream 2 project was not consistent with the European
Union's energy policy objectives.
The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, is
currently seeking a mandate from EU members for holding Nord Stream 2
negotiations with Russia.
Supporters of the gas pipeline maintain it would allow
slashing gas prices across Europe.