The European Commission has to address the concerns that are raised by member states, which have really good reasons to be worried, Hochstein believes.
“It would also have a terribly negative impact on Ukraine and Slovakia, who rely on the transit fees for a significant part of their budget. Just to take that away overnight would be quite dramatic and have a big impact not only economically but also politically on Ukraine and Slovakia,” he said.
Hochstein added that what the US can do is to ensure that they have a policy that no country can do a project that would have such a negative impact on the energy security of the EU or the economic viability of the Union.
The Nord Stream 2 projects includes the construction of two lines of the offshore gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, in addition to the existing two lines.
The project is to be implemented by the engineering company New European Pipeline AG. The stakes of partners in Nord Stream 2 AG will be distributed as follows: Gazprom will hold 50 percent, while BASF, E.ON, Engie, OMV and Shell will own 10 percent each.
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