German lawmaker calls for restart of Nord Stream pipeline

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German lawmaker calls for restart of Nord Stream pipeline

2025-01-05 11:56 Last Updated At：15:47

A German lawmaker has called for restart of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, as the halt of gas transit caused soaring energy prices in the European Union (EU) states.

The halt in Russian gas transit through Ukraine has heightened fears over supply shortages and soaring energy costs in Europe.

Both Ukraine and Russia announced the stoppage of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine's territory to Europe on Wednesday, pushing some EU countries to resort to costlier energy alternatives.

Sevim Dagdelen, left-wing Member of German Bundestag, wrote on her social media platform on Thursday that the halt of the transit of Russian gas in Europe further drives the energy price up, complaining that "the German government and the EU are happily watching the destruction of European industry due to high energy prices."

Dagdelen proposed that Germany should take immediate action to repair and restart the Nord Stream pipeline to alleviate the problem of natural gas shortages.

Dagdelen is not the first German lawmaker to call for the restart of the Nord Stream pipeline. Last September, Tino Chrupalla, co-chairman of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany, said that this submarine pipeline is the lifeline of German industry and that the Nord Stream pipeline must be repaired, restarted and protected.

On New Year's Day, European natural gas futures prices hit their highest level since October 2023 after Russia's natural gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were stopped.

In addition, the supply cut has begun to affect many European countries, including Slovakia and its neighbor Poland.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday said that the halt will have "severe consequences for all of us in the European Union (EU), but will not harm Russia."

Fico said that Slovakia stands to lose hundreds of millions of euros in gas transit fees, while its citizens will face higher gas and electricity bills. He criticized major EU nations for prioritizing geopolitical goals at the expense of smaller countries' interests and needs.

On the same day, Slovakia's gas importer, SPP, announced that it has contingency plans in place to ensure gas supplies through alternative channels, such as utilizing pipelines from Germany and Hungary. However, this will incur additional transit fees.

At present, Slovakia is considering taking retaliatory measures against Ukraine. The ruling coalition in Slovakia has reached a preliminary agreement to stop the supply of electricity to Ukraine and significantly reduce support for Ukrainian citizens in Slovakia. The government is expected to announce the decision next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Slovakia's neighbor Poland, some officials have proposed that if Slovakia cuts off the power supply to Ukraine, Poland is willing to transport electricity from its own power plants to help Ukraine through the difficulties.

In this regard, Lukasz Wojdyga, director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, pointed out that Poland's electricity production mainly relies on coal, and the additional emission costs it pays account for 60 percent of the energy price, making Poland one of the countries with the most expensive electricity prices in the European Union. If Poland is determined to help Ukraine fill the electricity gap, transmitting electricity to Ukraine will further increase costs, and ultimately the interests of its own consumers will be harmed, he noted.

Japanese civil groups urge gov't to ban arms exports

Representatives of 12 Japanese civil groups held a rally in Tokyo on Thursday, urging the government to ban all arms exports.

The demonstrators gathered in front of the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters and the National Diet building, where they submitted a formal petition. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, agreed at a meeting on Monday to revise the implementation guidelines of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and lift restrictions that limit defense equipment transfers to five noncombat purposes. And they planned to submit the proposal to the cabinet in February next year.

The ruling coalition's plan to significantly relax restrictions on weapons exports has been met with strong opposition from domestic civil groups, as they warn that the move would put Japan on a dangerous path.

The demonstrators urged the government to strictly uphold Article 9 of Japan's pacifist constitution, which renounces the nation's right to engage in war or to resort to military force to resolve international conflicts.

"The Constitution clearly renounces war as a sovereign right and stipulates that Japan shall not possess land, sea, and air forces. However, despite the Constitution's existence as the cardinal law, they constantly adopt laws that hollow out and weaken the Constitution's spirit. And Japanese companies keep manufacturing and exporting weapons to make profits, which worries me tremendously. I keenly feel that Japan is already at a dangerous edge," said Yoko Sugiura, editor-in-chief of magazine Consumers Union of Japan.

"During the Diet debates, it was the Liberal Democratic Party that formulated the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, a system specifically embodying the ideals of Article 9 of the Constitution. The Japan Innovation Party's claim that Article 9 has nothing to do with arms exports ban and embargo is erroneous both factually and conceptually. And the issue is a very serious," said Koji Sugihara, a representative of the Network Against Japan Arms Trade, a local citizens' group.

"In the spirit of Article 9 of the Constitution, arms exports must be stopped, and the policy of prohibiting weapons must be restored. Given this clear shift to militarization, we fear that if it this goes on, there is no way to guarantee the safety of our lives. So we will continue to appeal to society to collectively ponder on how to stop this trend," said Misaki Nishimura, a representative of the Japan Peace Committee.