European Parliament’s resolution against Nord Stream 2 adopted under US pressure — speaker

The European Parliament’s resolution against the construction of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline has been adopted under the pressure of the United States, which is a manifestation of unfair competition, State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told reporters on Thursday.

"Obviously, the European Parliament has made the decision under the US pressure. Calls for halting a project that is economically viable for European countries and their citizens are heard after repeated sanctions threats from the side of the US Congress against companies participating in the Nord Stream 2 construction," he said. "That is nothing more than unfair competition supported by politicians proclaiming democracy and free economic principles," Volodin added.

The lower house speaker considers it unacceptable to stand up for economic interests of particular countries through political pressure. "In the lead-up to European Parliament elections the European voters should give it some thought as to whose interests their representatives in that European structure look after," he emphasized.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the report "On Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement," which condemned the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, that being a political project that poses a threat to the European energy security and efforts on diversification of energy supply sources. According to the resolution, the European Parliament requests cancellation of the project.