The Russian use of gas as a weapon to harm Europe is no longer a secret. The Belgians’ wallets had also been strongly felt when Russia closed the valves on its gas pipelines to the European market, then during the destruction in September 2022 of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The situation had gripped Europe short, while gas stocks were not sufficiently stocked, pushing Europeans to turn to countries like Qatar.
While the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and Ursula von der Leyen was reassuring about gas, Germany had already feared for its supply. Christian Lindner, the German Finance Minister, then declared to the Financial Times that Moscow could cut off its deliveries to Europe if the West adopted retaliatory measures following an invasion of Ukraine. He added, however, that Germany had prepared contingency plans to respond to such an eventuality.
Can Belgium do without Russian gas?
Now, the German newspaper Handelsblatt has come to support not only that Angela Merkel was well aware of the threat but also that the German government was not prepared for the gas crisis and did not take action either. According to our colleagues, the former chancellor of Germany knew that the Kremlin intended to blackmail Europe by using gas as a weapon to push it to put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into service quickly. However, Angela Merkel would have concealed the information to maintain the impression of leaving the country by leaving it in perfect condition, as our colleagues write. She even went so far as to tell the newspaper that “there was no reason to believe that Russia was limiting gas supplies to Europe.”
However, there was no shortage of criticism. On the allied side, the United States, Poland and Ukraine already feared Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and were wary of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Even within Germany, doubts were present. According to confidential documents consulted by Handelsblatt, the German Ministry of Economy had already warned in 2021 of the very slow filling of European gas supplies by Russia: in July 2021, Gazprom had only half filled the reserves European gas companies. “The gas crisis took Germany by surprise. Long before the Russian offensive against Ukraine, Berlin suspected the Kremlin of manipulating the gas market.points out the German newspaper. “However, the German government has not taken any action.”
War in Ukraine: Federal government calls for cessation of Russian gas transshipment
For Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of the Economy and Climate since December 8, 2021, this is a “historic error”, as reported by 7/7. “We should never have depended on Putin’s gas“, he laments.
