London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Only 4 months before war, Germany claimed Russian gas pipeline posed no risk

Only 4 months before war, Germany claimed Russian gas pipeline posed no risk

Nord Stream 2, designed to ferry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany, ‘does not jeopardize’ gas supplies in Germany and the EU, according to controversial opinion by previous government.
The German government on Thursday declassified a top-secret security assessment on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from 2021, only four months before the outbreak of war, which claimed energy supplies “won’t be jeopardized” by increased dependency on Russian gas.

The document, dated October 26, 2021, was adopted in the final days of former Chancellor Angela Merkel's outgoing government, in which Germany’s current leader Olaf Scholz played a key role as vice chancellor.

The controversial opinion displays an exceedingly naive view of the risks posed by Germany's significant reliance on Russian gas deliveries, which had continuously grown in the years prior to Moscow's war. It also rejects concerns by Eastern European partners like Poland and Ukraine, which had long warned the Nord Stream 2 undersea pipeline designed to carry natural gas directly from Russia to northern Germany would increase the risk of energy blackmail by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Overall, the assessment comes to the conclusion that the granting of certification [for Nord Stream 2] does not jeopardize the security of gas supply in Germany and the European Union," the document reads.

"For both the German and neighboring markets, the risk of serious impairments to supply security due to the failure of individual import supply infrastructures is very limited," the government paper adds — an assessment belied by the current halt in Russian gas deliveries to Germany and the resulting gas scarcity and energy crisis, which forced Berlin to adopt a massive, unprecedented €200 billion gas price relief package earlier this month to shield households and companies from soaring prices.

Instead, the opinion claims that Nord Stream 2 would “increase the resilience of the European gas supply system by providing an additional capacity buffer for peak demand.”

While the assessment does consider a scenario under which Russia cuts gas flows to Europe, it classifies such a risk as very low, stressing that “gas deliveries from the Soviet Union and later from Russia to Germany have been reliable and contractual for decades, even in times of political tension.”

Moreover, the paper stresses that liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in other EU countries like Belgium or France could substitute 71 percent of Russian gas flows if needed — although that conclusion is based on the assumption that sufficient LNG shipments could be found immediately.

The government opinion dismissed concerns that Russia’s state-controlled gas supplier Gazprom would violate delivery contracts or EU law, suggesting German regulators could simply intervene and reason with the Russians — a misguided assertion in retrospect.

The publication of the explosive assessment comes after journalists from German magazine Der Spiegel requested access to the document and threatened to take the government to court if it did not publish the file.

But the timing of the release is problematic for Scholz, who claimed this Tuesday that he "was always sure" Putin would use energy supplies "as a weapon."

Scholz's bold claim had already triggered criticism due to his top role in the previous government and his track record of having promoted and defended Nord Stream 2 until early this year. Although the government assessment was written by the economy ministry under former minister Peter Altmaier, from Merkel's Christian Democratic Party (CDU), it will pose questions about how closely Scholz was involved in its approval as the former vice chancellor.

A spokesperson for Scholz could not be reached for an immediate comment.

Germany withdrew the controversial security assessment and pulled the plug on Nord Stream 2 just days ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×