The majority of Germans support Nord Stream 2, a poll revealed Monday. It also showed that most dismissed Donald Trump’s negative comments on the pipeline as a tactic to promote US liquefied gas in Europe.
Two thirds of respondents support the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline because it would help provide Germany with a more reliable supply of natural gas, according to the the Forsa poll, which surveyed 1,004 Germans. Nord Stream 2 is a project to expand the existing Nord Stream main gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
During the recent NATO summit Donald Trump called Nord Stream 2 a mistake saying that Germany buying Russian gas made it its ‘captive’. But just under 84 percent of respondents to Monday's poll brushed off Trump's comments, labelling his statement "completely absurd".
The poll showed 92 percent were even more cynical, saying that they suspected that Trump's motive for making the comments was primarily to promote the sale of US liquefied gas in Europe and Germany.
The poll also indicated that over half of Germans think that Europe can defend itself without US military support, with only 37 percent of respondents saying they believed Europe depended on US military help. The Forsa poll results come less than two weeks after US president Donald Trump threatened to pull support over defence spending.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is planned to pass through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2019. According to Washington, the pipeline violates the energy security of the EU and undermines the interests of Ukraine.
In an attempt to dissuade NATO allies from participating in the pipeline project, the US has previously threatened to impose sanctions on those European energy companies involved.
Russia has defended the pipeline, saying that Moscow is a guarantor of Europe’s energy security. Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Trump's criticism of Nord Stream-2 is an egregious example of unscrupulous competition and it worries Moscow.
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