Nord Stream 2: discord on sanctions against Nord Stream 2 blocks US defense budget

 Congressmen of the republican party have blocked the decision on the defense budget over the question of further sanctions against the pipeline operator and connected companies, writes BILD:

In Washington, the conflict over sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is coming to a head. That has now contributed to the temporary blockade of the US defense budget for the coming year.

The Republicans in the US Senate prevented a vote on the Defense Budget (NDAA) package on Monday evening (local time) using procedural rules. The Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell, justified the move with the fact that the Democrats refused to include a change in the law on Nord Stream 2 in the package. After the change, US President Joe Biden will no longer have the option of exempting US sanctions due to Nord Stream 2 for reasons of national security.

Nord Stream 2: Ukraine caucus wants to ensure sanctions

 RFERL writes:

Members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus are concerned a U.S. bill to expand sanctions on a Russian natural-gas pipeline to Europe could be dropped from the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The bill, known as the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Clarification Act (PEESCA), would widen the scope of sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany to include any individual or entity providing insurance or welding services for the project.

PEESCA has been included in the NDAA defense spending bill passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this year with slight variations. The Senate bill would also sanction any company that provides testing or inspection services for the pipeline. Congress is currently reconciling differences between the Senate and House versions of the NDAA and could be finalized in the coming days.

Members of the Ukraine Caucus have written to congressional leaders to urge them to “include language” in the final version of the NDAA that clarifies the new sanctions, indicating they are concerned PEESCA could be taken out or watered down despite bipartisan support for the bill, according to a letter obtained by RFE/RL.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.rferl.org/a/30916780.html

Nord Stream 2: sanctions are in effect

As anticipated, U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on legislation allowing Washington to issue sanctions on firms involved in the €10 billion pipeline.

Swiss-dutch pipelaying-company Allseas has immediately stopped their activities on Nord Stream 2 after the entry into force of the sanctions explaining: "Allseas will proceed, consistent with the legislation’s wind down provision and expect guidance comprising of the necessary regulatory, technical and environmental clarifications from the relevant US authority."

To german government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer the sanctions "hit german and european companies" [n.b. no german company is designated by the sanctions], and "constitute an interference in [our] internal affairs".

U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, views the sanctions as deeply pro-European.


See more information here:

https://www.bild.de/politik/trump/politik-ausland/donald-trump-unterzeichnet-gesetzespaket-gegen-nord-stream-2-66855030.bild.html

https://www.politico.eu/article/nord-stream-2-russia-sanctions-us-donald-trump/

Nord Stream 2: as sanctions lie ahead, stakeholders become thin-skinned

The US congress, in a rare bipartisan proceeding, have resolved a legislative package in the framework of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes sanctions against companies supporting the construction of controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream 2.
The White House has indicated that US-President Donald Trump is going to sign the legislative package:

"U.S. Senate and House committees have agreed to include a bill sanctioning Russia's new natural-gas pipeline to Europe into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), putting up a potential roadblock to the project’s completion.

The House and Senate are expected to vote later this month on the NDAA, which often becomes a vehicle for a range of policy initiatives, as it's one of only a few pieces of major legislation that Congress approves each year.

The proposal attached to the bill that addresses Nord Stream 2 would impose U.S. sanctions on any companies helping Russia lay the $11 billion pipeline."

Sanctions would include entry bans and revocation of visa for executives and main shareholders of the companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2 as well as freezing of financial transactions of the persons concerned.

See more information here:
https://www.rferl.org/a/us-congress-includes-russian-pipeline-sanctions-bill-in-ndaa-as-completion-deadline-approaches/30317901.html 

Meanwhile a polish ecological organisation, the Polski Klub Ekologiczny, has appealed the approval of the danish energy authority that cleared the way for the construction of the last segment of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The ecological organisation claims that the operator of the pipeline, the Nord Stream 2 AG, didn't establish with a sufficient degree that the pipeline will not harm protected natural areas along the route.

https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/politik-ausland/beschwerde-gegen-putin-pipeline-polnischer-oeko-club-will-nord-stream-2-stoppen-66633060.bild.html


After the resolution of the of the sanctions by US-lawmakers the chairman of the russo-german Foreign Trade Chamber, Mathias Schepp, urged for counter-sanctions.
Schepp is a former "Der Spiegel"-Journalist and former head of their Moscow bureau between 2006 and 2012.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas (SPD) on his part fustigated the sanctions in a tweet, stating that "european energy policy shall be decided in Europe and not in United States. We oppose on principle to foreign interference and to sanctions with exterritorial effects."

See also:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/vorfreude-und-panik-reaktionen-auf-us-sanktionen-gegen-nord-stream-2-66655556.bild.html