VIDEO
European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed back against new US sanctions towards Russia, citing that they would harm European interests. According to Member of the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms, this is because Chancellor Merkel is interested in a German-Russian gas monopoly.
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 97-2 for new sanctions against Russia, limiting President Trump’s power over these decisions. This vote was a reaction to Russia’s interference during the US elections, and aims at strengthening the US profile with Europe and Ukraine towards Russia. The push back from the German Chancellor against these sanctions comes as a surprise, Harms told Hromadske, and lies in the joint gas project between Germany and Russia, Nord Stream 2.
“Merkel should be a little more sensitive towards the EU neighbours, especially in the East and Denmark,” Harms stated, “We have many countries against Nord Stream 2, because they see that there is a kind of German-Russian gas empire, or gas monopoly growing and they don’t want it.”
