At the EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels on Monday 9 July, European Council President Donald Tusk and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko reaffirmed their opposition to the Russian gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2.
"This is not a commercial project. This is not a profitable or economic project. This has no sense from the economic point of view. This is definitely a geopolitical project which tries to make Ukraine weaker and (...) to leave Ukraine without revenues from the existing gas transportation system, and that wants to take from the EU more than $20 billion for building up an infrastructure project which Europe doesn't need to increase the dependence of the EU on Russia", Poroshenko stated.
"We undertake by all means we have in our disposal to stop this Russian geopolitical project and to stop (the) dependence of Europe on the Russian gas (...), to defend the interests of Poland, (the) Baltic states, Scandinavian states and the interest of the whole EU and the whole world", he added.
"Unfortunately, we have still some member states with (a) completely different opinion" on the amendment to the 2009 gas directive proposed by the European Commission in 2017 to clarify the regulatory framework for gas pipelines arriving in the EU from third countries – and thus to restrict the Nord Stream 2 project (see EUROPE 11900), Tusk stated.
"My personal view is that Nord Stream2 is a mistake and will not serve the best European interest. It is against our strategic interest, our security and also our rules", he said. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)