German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday criticized US for imposing sanctions on companies building the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
“WE ARE DETERMINED TO COMPLETE PIPELINE DESPITE US PRESSURE”
Merkel was visiting her constituency in northern Germany when she spoke about the sanctions US has imposed. “We are against extraterritorial sanctions,” Merkel said.
“We do not consider these extraterritorial sanctions, that is those that go beyond the territory of the United States, to be legal,” Merkel added.
Earlier, Republican legislators reaffirmed American government claims that Nord Stream 2 is a “severe threat to the national security of the USA” and argued that both parties in the US Congress were determined to prevent the project’s completion so that “these threats never materialize.”
Nord Stream 2 has an important role in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is home to Merkel’s constituency.
US-German relations have reached a post-World War II low as the Merkel government has repeatedly faced the wrath of Trump over a range of issues, including defense spending, climate change, the Iran nuclear agreement, and Germany’s trade surplus.