Germany 'ignored warning signs’ on Russia: ambassador
Germany “ignored warning signs” and “failed to take criticism from our allies” regarding the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the German ambassador to the United States, Emily Haber, has said.
Germany’s ambassador to the United States, Emily Haber.EPA/CLEMENS BILAN
In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Haber admitted that Germany has made mistakes in its policy toward Russia in recent years, Polish state broadcaster TVP Info has reported.
According to Haber, an improvement in Berlin’s relations with Moscow over the past several decades cemented a belief in Germany that interdependence would lead to stability, transparency and systemic change.
“We ignored warning signs to the contrary, and we failed to take criticism from our allies and partners as seriously as we should have, especially on the geopolitical implications of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” Haber said, adding that “all of this is now over, and it is amazing to observe just how over it really is.”
’We have drawn the necessary conclusions’
Haber argued in her piece that there has been a change in Germany’s policy and that the country has taken a new course in several areas, such as greater independence from Russian energy, arms exports to Ukraine and a large increase in defense spending.
Haber also said that her country has ended its dependence on Russian energy imports.
“We are no longer buying coal or gas from Russia, and the same will soon be true of oil,” Haber wrote. „This massive shift has occurred at lightning speed — within just a few months.”
She added: “We are accelerating our transition to renewables, extending the operation of nuclear plants (a very difficult decision domestically), reactivating coal plants and building liquid natural gas infrastructure. True, our previous dependence on Russia was self-inflicted. But we have drawn the necessary conclusions and are determined to see through a corrective revolution.”
Poland’s tvp.info website reported that, in the years prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US government strongly criticized Germany’s involvement in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which caused discontent and tension in relations between Berlin and Washington.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was set to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany. In February, shortly before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the German government halted the certification process for the ready-to-use pipeline.
In September, the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were damaged in what Swedish officials called “an act of sabotage,” after traces of explosives were found at the site by investigators.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said in Washington in September that Russia may have damaged the pipelines “to deepen European divisions over how to ensure energy security.”
(jh/gs)
Source: TVP Info, The Washington Post
