The uproar in the foreign press over the poisoning of one of the leading Russian dissidents has drawn attention to Angela Merkel's scandalous support for the pipeline in the Baltic Sea, as the patience of political elites towards the government of Vladimir Putin in Germany is running out, writes Bloomberg.
Appeals of some members of the German parliament to abandon Nord Stream 2 because of the poison from the Novichok group allegedly found in the body of Alexei Navalny met with resistance. According to three Bloomberg sources in the Bundestag, the parliamentary demand will most likely not be supported by either the bloc of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, consisting of Christian Democrats, or the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is part of the "grand coalition" with the ruling party.
This limits the chancellor's ability to send a "harsh signal" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the agency notes, noting that what happened to Navalny has now come to the fore in the list of Berlin's claims against Moscow. Earlier, the German side has already accused Russia of involvement in the murder of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in August last year, as well as in carrying out a cyber attack on the computer system of the lower house of parliament.
Bloomberg emphasizes that the resistance in the Merkel coalition reflects support for the pipeline construction from the German industry. In addition, the desire to preserve the project points to deeper ties between Germany and Russia, especially among the Social Democrats, the agency notes. In particular, the German Eastern Business Association, an industry group that supports trade with Moscow, warned against severing relations with Nord Stream, stressing that Merkel herself urged not to link the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project to the Navalny incident.
