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Up until last week Germany showed no signs of seriously opposing Russia, they spent nothing on their military, they made their Russian oil essential to their en
by Traster 5y ago
Up until last week Germany showed no signs of seriously opposing Russia, they spent nothing on their military, they made their Russian oil essential to their energy policy (to the exclusion of nuclear) and senior former politicians lobbied for Russia.
It was perfectly reasonable for Russia to think Germany couldn’t afford to dump NS2 (Russia had been deliberately running down reserves for 6months). The problem is that Russia’s actions galvanised Europe in a unique way. Suddenly Germany is more sceptical of the Russians than the Brits are, and the brits have very little on the line in comparison.
- fabian2k 5y agoWhile there is plenty to criticize about our previous strategic decisions in this area, no gas has ever flown through NS2. There's a lot of bad faith arguments going around here. NS2 was controversial in Germany from the start, it was a bad idea politically because it weakened the position of the eastern european states. But it was not the bogeyman than many made it out to be. Germany needs gas for heating, and heating is not optional. Heating is also expensive, and making it more expensive for strategic reasons is a very hard thing to sell.
- throwaway_4ever 5y ago> Germany needs gas for heating, and heating is not optional. The 50% that comes from Russia is.
- rasz 5y agoThe Inuit dont use gas for heating, its pretty optional if you wear enough clothing indoors.