Pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline lie stacked in Sassnitz, Germany. Poland has been leading the charge against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. Now it has the United States in its corner.
Germany is Europe's largest economy, but great size isn't helping it get its way on energy. Berlin is bullish on constructing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a link that will deliver an extra 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian natural gas directly to Germany's doorstep, but the European pipeline politics that have hampered progress on the project have now grabbed the attention of leaders on the other side of the Atlantic. Worried by Russia's impact on Europe's energy security, the United States has made an unusual foray into the Continent's affairs, demanding that European backers of the pipeline drop their support, lest they face the wrath of Washington, which has predicated a new U.S.-European Union trade deal on abandonment of Nord Stream 2 and even threatened sanctions.
