In Germany, secret documents were revealed about the struggle between Merkel and Scholz for Nord Stream

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and two coalitions under her leadership fought hard for the construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and lobbied for the interests of Gazprom. This became known from secret documents that the publication Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) by court decision provided by the German Ministry of Economics.

“For seven years, two large coalitions declared this gas pipeline a “private economic project,” although they fought for it with all their might. For seven years they brushed aside their partners’ doubts like annoying flies. “Nothing could make the Germans doubt the benign picture that Nord Stream 2 AG painted for them,” the material says, citing various internal memos, embassy reports and memos.

As the publication notes, Merkel did not see a threat in the Russian gas pipeline. The publication cites a memo from the German Ministry of Economics dated June 2014, which states that Germany “in the foreseeable future” will depend on gas imports from Russia and a complete abandonment of it “does not seem possible in the coming years and decades.”

However, Merkel decided to further increase Berlin’s energy dependence on Moscow. According to internal documents, having learned in 2015 of Gazprom’s plans to build a new gas pipeline with the participation of European firms, she gave instructions to support the project within the government because it “strengthens Germany’s role as a European gas hub” but not to comment on it because strong opposition was expected .

As the publication clarifies, before the withdrawal of the report that opened the final way for the commissioning of Nord Stream 2 in February 2022, the current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also actively trying to “clear the way” for the Russian gas pipeline.

Earlier, American economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, in an interview with television journalist Carlson Tucker, accused the US administration of undermining Nord Stream. According to him, Washington has promised to do this dozens of times.