Union for the Protection of Nature filed a lawsuit against Nord Stream 2

On April 1, the regulator rejected the protest of NABU and another environmental organization - Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) - against the laying of 16.5 km of pipes in the exclusive economic zone of Germany.

"NABU today filed a lawsuit against the permission issued by the Federal Office for Shipping and Hydrography for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline".

The statement says that after the joint protest by NABU and DUH was rejected, all that remains is to go to court "to limit the damage to the Baltic Sea".

Environmentalists are confident that the gas pipeline is destroying the habitat on the seabed "over an area of more than 16 football fields".

Earlier, representatives of the DUH filed a similar claim to the Hamburg court.

The regulator pointed out that “after considering the doubts set forth in the protest [of the ecologists] and following a thorough examination of environmental issues, the previously issued permit remains in force”. The Department for Shipping and Cartography did not cancel the results of the previous examination, assuring that the construction of the pipeline does not pose a threat to marine flora and fauna.

Recall that at the end of April Germany announced that it would not abandon Nord Stream 2, although, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a "political struggle" unfolded around the project.

The conflict over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has not subsided for several years. Although the laying of pipes that will supply gas from Russia to Europe is 90% complete, there is strong opposition from the United States and Poland. Washington believes that the completion of the gas pipeline will strengthen Russia's influence on Europe and reduce Germany's energy security.

In an attempt to freeze the project, the United States imposed sanctions on construction participants, which led to the refusal of 18 companies to continue the project. Russia is completing the laying of the gas pipeline on its own and says that the first branch of the pipeline should be brought to Germany in the summer of 2021.