Angela Merkel is facing intense pressure to scrap the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which will transport gas from Russia to Germany, to punish Moscow over the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny. German MPs from across the political spectrum are demanding Berlin drop its support for the scheme, which is one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s pet projects.
Politicians from both the opposition and chancellor Merkel’s own party, the CDU/CSU, insist that the pipeline project has no future following the attack on Mr Navalny, a prominent critic of Mr Putin who Germany said was poisoned with the novichok nerve agent.
“The only language that Putin understands is the language of natural gas,” said Norbert Rottgen, chairman of the Bundestag’s influential foreign affairs committee.
“Just saying we’re not going to talk about Nord Stream 2 … would be a complete vindication for Vladimir Putin,” he told German radio. “It would encourage him to continue these policies, because once again it’s been proven that he has nothing to fear from the Europeans.”