U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and counterparts from Estonia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Lithuania issued a revised joint statement on August 2 in opposition to the recent agreement between the United States and Germany to allow completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
We, the chairs of foreign affairs committees of our respective national parliaments, continue to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and with regret note the recent decision of the United States and Germany on Nord Stream 2, which entails resuming completion of the pipeline.
We consider Nord Stream 2 a geopolitical project geared towards expanding Russia’s influence on Europe by dominating the energy market. The completion of the pipeline will strengthen the impact of Russian gas in the European energy mix, endanger the national security of EU [European Union] member states and the United States, and threaten the already precarious security and sovereignty of Ukraine.
Moreover, the completion of NS2 will give Russia yet another tool to pressure and blackmail Ukraine. It continues to face Russia’s brutal aggression and military occupation of its territories because of its pro-European choice. As a result, over 14,000 Ukrainians have died, and every week more Ukrainian soldiers give their lives to protect their homeland and [all of] Europe. The EU and the United States must work together to increase sanctions pressure on the Kremlin to counter aggression in Ukraine.
The likely repercussion of the completion and operation of Nord Stream 2 is to undermine the development of a single, liberalized and open European market by consolidating sources of supply in the Nord Stream 2 system and deterring investment in alternatives. We expect a clear commitment from Germany to reduce dependency on gas imported from Russia and move towards green energy. We presume that Germany will handle its responsibility towards these goals with the utmost dedication. We need to make a collective commitment to increase support to the security and defense capabilities of Ukraine in order to prevent a deepening of the current security crisis, exacerbated by the threats created by Nord Stream 2.
In the changing security environment in the region, we call for commitments from NATO to strengthen deterrence, especially on the eastern flank from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. We also need to commit to delivering a road map for Ukraine’s path towards joining the NATO alliance, if Ukraine makes the necessary reforms and meets NATO membership standards. To consolidate the transformation efforts of the Ukrainian government as well as democracy and human rights in the region, we call for a European Union membership perspective to be agreed upon for Ukraine.
We insist that any further agreements on Nord Stream 2 necessitate consultations across the transatlantic family. Moreover, such diplomacy should happen with the fundamental principle in mind – countering malign Russian aggression is in all of NATO’s, all EU members, and our partners in Central and Eastern Europe, vital national security interests.
The joint statement was signed by the following individuals:
Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, United States Senate
Marek Kuchciński, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia
Bogdan Klich, chairman of the Foreign and European Union Affairs Committee, the Senate of the Republic of Poland
Ondřej Veselý, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the parliament of the Czech Republic
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Pavel Fischer, chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security committee, the Senate of the parliament of the Czech Republic
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Charles Flanagan, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the House of Oireachtas of Ireland
Žygimantas Pavilionis, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Rihards Kols, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia