Brussels, 20/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 20 September, under pressure from the conservative faction in the coalition government of prime minister Andrus Ansip, Estonia refused to authorise a feasibility study in its maritime economic area for the Nordstream project. This refusal is a further setback for Germany and Russia's planned new gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea (see EUROPE 9362 and 9374), which is the subject of controversy in Finland and Sweden and is being fiercely opposed by the Baltic States and Poland. Mart Laar, leader of Estonia's Conservative Party, said the Estonian government had no other option than to reject the request from the Nordstream consortium, particularly considering the enormous ecological risks and the safety dangers in Estonian waters that this project would represent for everyone. The study in Estonian waters had been requested by Finland, whose government is in a process of consultation with NGOs, local authorities and communities on the coastline concerned about the planned route of the pipeline, and will be publishing a general report on the pipeline's environmental impact. (eh)