Category Archives: Transatlantic relations

A high-ranking German politician has called for a construction moratorium on the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline from Russia, a Polish website has reported.

“The project is a serious stumbling block for the restart of transatlantic relations,” Peter Beyer said, as cited by the energetyka24.com website.

“The Americans expect us not only to change our rhetoric, but also to let actions speak for themselves,” he added in an interview with a German weekly, according to the Politico news service.

“I, therefore, advocate a construction moratorium for Nord Stream 2,” said Beyer, who is Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the German foreign ministry.

In February, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the German lower house, Norbert Röttgen, proposed introducing a moratorium on the construction of the controversial pipeline, according to a report.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last month that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built from Russia to Germany could undermine the interests of a number of NATO allies, including Poland.

Speaking on a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Blinken said US President Joe Biden “believes the pipeline is a bad idea, bad for Europe, bad for the United States.”

He added that the project was ultimately “in contradiction” to the “security goals” of the 27-nation European Union.

Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, is expected to send around 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas a year directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea while bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine.

Poland has strongly criticised the gas link amid concerns that the pipeline will make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas

(1. 4. 2021 via thenews.pl)

Companies helping build the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany should abandon work on the project or will face sanctions, the US State Department has warned.

“Any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks U.S. sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Thursday.

He added that the Biden administration was committed to complying with 2019 and 2020 legislation with regard to the pipeline and sanctions.

The statement also said that the State Department was monitoring efforts to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and evaluating information about companies doing work on the project.

The State Department slammed the pipeline as “a Russian geopolitical project intended to divide Europe and weaken European energy security.”

A White House spokeswoman said last month that President Joe Biden considers Nord Stream 2 a “bad deal” which divides Europe, and will decide whether sanctions are needed on the project.

The United States in January moved to slap sanctions on a Russian vessel helping build Nord Stream 2, Polish website energetyka24.com reported at the time.

Nord Stream 2, designed to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline, is expected to send around 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas a year directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea while bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine.

(19. 3. 2021 via thenews.pl)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has voiced support for the Three Seas Initiative, a Polish-led regional drive by European countries between the Black, Baltic and Adriatic Seas.

In a strong signal from President Joe Biden’s new administration, Blinken said the Three Seas Initiative, which aims to boost regional infrastructure, energy and business ties, strengthens Europe.

In a video posted on the State Department’s website, Blinken said: “Like you, we want more regional economic development. Your work to build better infrastructure in the energy, transportation and digital sectors are key to that goal, and will strengthen EU integration.”

‘Vital for stability’

He added: “Your efforts to strengthen energy security are vital for the stability and wellbeing of the region and all of Europe.”

Blinken said both he and Biden “deeply believe in working closely with our allies and partners because we know that there is power and strength in cooperation. That’s what the Three Seas Initiative is all about.”

The initiative brings together Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Mike Pompeo, Blinken’s predecessor as Secretary of State, in October lauded Poland’s “strong leadership role” in the Three Seas Initiative.

(18. 2. 2021 via thenews.pl)

During a daily press briefing on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department Ned Price voiced concerns about the Polish government’s activities leading to “constricting space for civil society within Poland”. In his response, Price mentioned two issues in particular – the recent charges brought against Marta Lempart, the leader of the Women’s Strike, and the proposal for tax on media ads, which goes against the Biden administration’s policy of “supporting a diversity of independent media voices”.

On Wednesday, the Warsaw prosecutor’s office brought charges against Marta Lempart, one of the leaders of the Women’s Strike movement. Lempart is accused of organizing protests that violated the Covid-19 restrictions, of insulting a police officer and of inciting others to destroy Church property. She faces up to 8 years in prison.

The hearing lasted less than an hour. Marta Lempart did not admit to the charges and refused to offer an explanatory statement.

– The government turned to using the Criminal Code against citizens after it lost a number of court cases brought on the basis of the alleged violation of the Code on Procedure in Misdemeanour Cases against the protesters. Now they are trying a new legal trick to force our obedience. My case is a clear example of that,” Lempart told Wyborcza.

During a Wednesday’s press briefing, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department Ned Price acknowledged that the case against Lempart is closely followed by the Biden Administration.

Responding to a journalist, Price reminded that “promoting, advocating, and defending freedom of speech, the right to peaceful protest, and judicial independence – these are critical to every democracy”, and while “Poland is a valued NATO ally”, the State Department is committed not only to strengthening the partnership with Poland, but also to “advancing the administration’s commitments to supporting democratic institutions, human rights, and the rule of law.”

Price also added that the charges against Lempart are “part and parcel of a constricting space for civil society within Poland”, and the new presidential administration has “broader concerns, including the proposed media tax that has been unveiled recently as well”.

– As I was saying in the context of a very different media crackdown, we’re committed to supporting a diversity of independent media voices and opinions, which we believe are essential to vibrant democracies; Price concluded.

(12. 2. 2021 via wyborcza.pl)

French president warns against creating ‘highest possible’ conflict.

The EU shouldn’t gang up on China with the U.S. even if it stands closer to Washington by virtue of shared values, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

“A situation to join all together against China, this is a scenario of the highest possible conflictuality. This one, for me, is counterproductive,” Macron said, speaking in English, during a discussion broadcast by Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council on Thursday.

This kind of common front against China — as other European leaders have advocated given the new Biden administration’s revived openness to traditional alliances — risks pushing Beijing to lower its cooperation on issues like combatting climate change, and exacerbating its aggressive behavior in Asia, including in the South China Sea, according to the French president.

Macron also said “the coming semesters will be very critical for Chinese leaders and China,” given the Biden administration’s reengagement in multilateral frameworks like the World Health Organization.

“As the U.S. is reengaging itself, what will be the behavior of China?” Macron asked.

He pitched, once again, holding a summit of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — China, France, the U.S., U.K. and Russia. He had tried to hold such a summit in 2020 but it had fallen prey to Sino-American tensions and never materialized.

Macron was answering questions from a handful of U.S. think-tankers, professors and former officials via video link in a 90-minute session recorded at the Elysée on Wednesday afternoon.

The French president was the first European leader to make it a point to engage with China as a European bloc by including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a bilateral visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to France in March 2019.

Macron and European partners didn’t share the Trump administration’s outwardly aggressive stance on China, instead theorizing that it was at once a “partner, competitor and systemic rival.”

Macron said in the Atlantic Council discussion that China was a partner when it comes to climate change. When the Trump administration pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, China remained in it. The French president said Beijing was a competitor on trade and industrial issues and a systemic rival through its behavior in the “Indo-Pacific region and on values, human rights.”

One of the first executive orders that U.S. President Joe Biden signed after being inaugurated returned the U.S. to the Paris climate pact.

That offers up a new opportunity for engagement, Macron said.

“I think we have to engage China in a bold and efficient climate agenda. And I think the reengagement of the U.S. is a good occasion, as well, to have a proactive and — a discussion on that,” he said.

Macron said there was a need for “a global initiative on trade, industry, and intellectual property” through the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of mostly rich countries including France, and admitted that the investment agreement the EU and China signed in December 2020 “failed to deal with the IP issue. Let’s be lucid.”

On technology issues, Macron reiterated his long-held position not to “depend on a 100 percent Chinese solution.” He decided not to allow the deployment and use of Chinese 5G technology in strategic sectors in France. He also said: “I don’t want to depend on 100 percent U.S. decision. Otherwise, I will be put in a situation not to decide for the European continent itself.”

And Macron said there was a need to put pressure on China when it comes to human rights — an issue the Biden administration has been publicly forceful on — while France and other European countries have preferred a more discreet approach to China.

He defended the EU-China investment deal on this issue, amid criticism that the deal is weak on labor rights provisions at a time of mounting evidence of abuses at labor camps in Xinjiang against the Uighur minority.

“For the very first time, China accepted to engage on [International Labour Organization] regulation and to commit precisely on labor issues, which are part of our human rights package,” Macron said.

(4. 2. 2021 via politico.eu)

Disagreement has been ‘poisoning everyone,’ foreign minister says.

The EU and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden should ”find a method” to suspend a trade dispute that has been “poisoning everyone,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview published today.

“The issue that has been poisoning everyone is that of the price escalation and taxes on steel, digital technology, Airbus and more, specifically our wine sector,” Le Drian told weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

”If we could rapidly find a method that would allow us to solve this dispute with Europe and France, it would be a step forward,” Le Drian added. “This can take time but, meanwhile, we can always order moratoria.”

Le Drian’s comments chime with those of other EU officials, who are seeking to turn the page on four years of transatlantic tension with U.S. President Donald Trump and his “America First” strategy.

The Trump administration announced Monday it would begin collecting new duties on aircraft parts and other products from France and Germany such as wine as part of the long-standing fight over subsidies to aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing.

(17. 1. 2021 via politico.eu)

Brexit talks are set to continue on Monday after negotiations failed to reach an agreement over the weekend, passing the Sunday deadline set by the European Parliament for the UK and EU to agree on a trade deal.

In what were touted as last-ditch talks on the weekend, the two sides once again failed to reach consensus with the issue of fishing being the main stumbling block, just 11 days before the UK is set to crash out of the trading bloc without a trade deal.

“The talks remain difficult and important differences remain. We continue to explore all avenues to reach an agreement,” a British source said on Sunday evening.

A European source confirmed that they “expect” talks to resume on Monday, with neither side wanting to back down or end the talks.

MEPs had set a deadline of midnight on Sunday so that they would have enough time to study and ratify any agreed text, so it can come into law on January 1.

After hearing there was no agreement on Sunday, David McAllister, a German MEP who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee said “the European Parliament will not be in a position to grant consent to an agreement this year”, adding there will be a meeting tomorrow morning.

Britain’s parliament must also approve any deal. MPs are now on their Christmas break until January, although they can be called back on 48 hours’ notice to approve an agreement if one is struck.

An agreement reached at the 11th hour could still enter into force provisionally, with ratification by the European Parliament afterwards.

But according to several European sources, such a scenario is only technically possible if a compromise is reached before Christmas, otherwise a no-deal exit, at least for a few days, seems inevitable.

The UK has two monumental challenges on its plate
The UK’s lead negotiator David Frost met his European counterpart Michel Barnier on Sunday, as they continued to try to thrash out a deal ahead of the end of the transition period – 31 December at 23 pm GMT.

Otherwise, trade between the EU and London will be conducted under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, which mean tariffs and quotas, with serious consequences for the economy.

Meanwhile a host of the UK’s European neighbours banned travel from the country in the wake of the spread of a variant of coronavirus that is spreading rapidly across the UK.

The EU is planning a crisis meeting on the subject on Monday almost putting Brexit on the back burner.

Fishing for a deal
The issue of fishing, despite only accounting for a tiny fraction of GDP for the UK, has long been a symbolic issue for both sides.

For some EU members, such as France and the Netherlands, it is an important political and economic issue.

For the Brexit supporters in the UK, control of its waters symbolises regained British sovereignty.

Negotiations focus on the sharing of the approximately €650 million of products fished each year by the EU in British waters and the length of the adjustment period for European fishermen.

For the British, fisheries products in European waters account for around €110m.

Brussels is reportedly proposing to give up about 20 per cent of the €650 million after a 7-year transition period, with London claiming 60 per cent over a 3-year period, according to EU sources.

Beyond this transition, the EU wants to be able to tax certain British products, particularly fisheries products, to compensate for any losses to its fishermen.

On the other two difficult issues – how to settle disputes and safeguards against unfair competition – positions have moved closer together in the past week, although the debate remains open.

Europeans are calling for guarantees in London to protect their huge market from the risk of environmental, labour or tax dumping.

They also want to ensure that the UK will not subsidise its economy at all costs, a point on which both sides are struggling to reach a compromise.

(21. 12. 2020 via euronews.com)

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau has said the fundamentals of relations between Washington and Warsaw will not change when Joe Biden takes over as US president.

Rau was speaking after Biden won the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the US presidency.

Asked about what could be expected of Biden’s term in office, Rau predicted that American foreign policy would continue as under outgoing President Donald Trump.

“This is due to the simple fact that the foreign interests of the United States, regardless of who resides in the White House, are constant, and nothing changes here,” the Polish foreign minister added.

Rau said he was confident the US would continue to maintain troops in Poland, adding that from the American perspective “nobody and nothing” would be able to replace Poland on NATO’s eastern flank.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said last month that both Republican and Democratic politicians in the United States see “the importance of Poland’s strategic partnership” with their country.

His comments came after a new US Army headquarters began operating in Poland following its official launch in the western city of Poznań.

Meanwhile, Poland’s president on November 9 ratified a major military deal with the United States under which at least 1,000 extra American troops can be stationed in his country.

The deal had long been sought by Poland, a staunch US military ally fearful of Russia. Around 4,500 American troops are already stationed in Poland on a rotating basis.

(16. 12. 2020 via thenews.pl)