Is Europe about to switch Nord Stream back on?

Could Gazprom’s Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines, partially destroyed by saboteurs in September 2022, eventually be reopened? This week, Denmark’s energy agency authorised Nord Stream 2 AG – the Russian-owned company that operates the pipelines – to begin work capping the severed ends of the three destroyed pipelines. That will be the first step to restoring the link that before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine used to supply up to a 40 per cent of Germany’s gas.  

The move comes just days after Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland party or AfD, told a party conference in Riesa that ‘we will put Nord Stream back into operation, you can count on it!’ Weidel also promised to ‘demolish all wind turbines’ in Germany and ‘restore the operation of functioning nuclear power plants’.

But the prospect of going back to business as usual with Russia after a ceasefire in Ukraine – and returning Germany to its strategic reliance on Putin’s gas – is causing consternation among some EU members.