Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) thanked Canada for the delivery of a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. At the same time, she offered the country much closer energy cooperation. “As a government, you stood up for European solidarity,” she said on Wednesday during her first visit to Canada after meeting her counterpart Mélanie Joly. “Together we exposed the Russian President’s bluff.”
Since June, Russia has cut back gas supplies via Nord Stream 1. The energy company Gazprom justified this with the missing turbine. It was serviced by Siemens Energy in the Canadian metropolis of Montreal, but was then delivered again in mid-July. On the way to Russia, however, it is now stuck in Mülheim an der Ruhr because Gazprom complains that the necessary documents and information for the repair are missing. Siemens Energy rejects the allegations.
The Canadian government is under pressure for permission to deliver the turbine. She is accused of evading sanctions. A parliamentary committee is investigating. The World Congress of Ukraine has even announced a lawsuit against the delivery. 1.4 million people with Ukrainian roots live in Canada.
Baerbock underlines the potential for further cooperation
Joly defended the delivery against criticism. It is clear that Putin is waging a “hybrid war”. He wanted to “sow division in our alliance.” They didn’t want to allow that, she said. On Thursday, Joly, like the German ambassador Sabine Sparwasser, has to testify about the turbine delivery before the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs.
Baerbock acknowledged “huge further potential” for the economic cooperation between the two countries. She named the areas of hydrogen and minerals. In a few weeks, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also travel to Canada to intensify economic cooperation.
Baerbock ends her three-day trip to North America in Montreal. In Montreal, she also wanted to visit a grain terminal in the port and meet with participants in a women’s integration program. Before that, Baerbock was in New York for two days, where she attended a UN conference on the review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
