Former Chancellor Schröder defends Nord Stream 2 – Investigative committee wants to clarify further

Hanover/Schwerin. Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder remains committed to the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline for Russian natural gas. In a letter to the parliamentary committee of inquiry of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament, the 81-year-old SPD politician writes that Germany's industry needs secure and affordable energy to compete on the global market. The letter has been obtained by the German Press Agency. The newspaper "Bild" had previously reported on it.

Since renewables are still not reliably available around the clock and in every season, and electricity should not be produced in nuclear power plants, "I am in favor of natural gas, and a pipeline is more environmentally friendly than a heavy fuel oil-powered tanker bringing us LNG gas," Schröder writes. This is a transitional period, "and even today, its length seems unpredictable to me."

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As Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nord Stream 2 AG, Schröder writes, he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the natural gas pipeline. The pipeline was completed at the end of 2021 but was not put into operation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Later, explosions severely damaged the pipeline and the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which had been built years earlier.

Schröder continued, saying he hadn't really spoken to Putin about the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Climate Protection Foundation. The foundation was established following a resolution by the Schwerin state parliament in early 2021 primarily to protect the pipeline project from threats of US sanctions against participating companies and to complete it.

The investigative committee wants to find out who came up with the idea of ​​establishing the foundation and whether Russia influenced political decisions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The former chancellor has so far declined two summonses to testify before the investigative committee due to health reasons. The fact that he was present in Hanover for the election of the new Minister-President of Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies (SPD), has not gone unnoticed in Schwerin. "I hope he will soon be healthy enough to testify before the investigative committee," declared Sebastian Ehlers, the CDU chairman of the committee. "The investigative committee will discuss the next steps in a timely manner."

In his letter, Schröder explains that a stable recovery from his burnout is "by no means certain to be achieved this year." Until then, unusual stressful situations should be avoided, "especially those lasting more than an hour and during which not everyone involved can take my health into account."

RND/dpa