AfD co-chair: Germany won't be Europe's gas hub anymore
Berlin's policies lead it to a disadvantage, as Turkey as poised to replace it as the hub for Russian energy to Europe.
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Tino Chrupalla, AfD's co-chair.
Germany won't be Europe's gas hub for the sale of hydrocarbons - instead, it will have to purchase Russian fossil fuels from other countries, including Turkey, according to the co-chair of the opposition right-wing party, Alternative for Germany party (AfD), Tino Chrupalla.
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Speaking to Sputnik, Chrupalla said "If Germany refuses Russian gas, then it is quite natural that Russia is looking for other partners, such as Turkey or China. And, in the end, we will probably have to buy gas from these countries, but at the same time it was and remains Russian. We will never be able to compensate for it."
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has come to an agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, regarding the construction of an international gas hub, adding that Europe will be able to access Russian gas through Turkish territory.
The wrong choice of policy by the German government led to this unfavorable situation, the AfD co-leader said.
European partnership becoming tense
"Against this background, it is clearly visible how European partnership relations are becoming increasingly tense due to German policy. For example, in relations with Hungary, where [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban wants to keep his own gas contracts. We clearly see that the so-called solidarity in Europe is being destroyed more and more," Chrupalla added.
He also noted that other countries have their own gas needs, too, including Saudi Arabia, Canada and Norway, with which Germany has been considering halting gas contracts: "It will be impossible to compensate for such huge [German} volumes," he said.
The next few months will reveal whether Germany has enough gas to supply itself, he said.
"It is still unclear to whom we will sell gas, since we are importers ourselves. And the gas reserves, of which we now have more than 95% [in German gas storage facilities], do not belong to us. They belong to companies that can sell them at a better price. I am interested in how the German government is going to compensate 95 billion cubic meters for such an industry as in Germany with the help of LNG [liquefied natural gas]," Chrupalla said.
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Under the reign of newly-elected Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline never rose into effect, and its certification was put to a halt days before Russia launched the war in Ukraine in February.
As the conflict brews, LNG exports coming from the United States have been on a skyrocketing increase in recent months as Europe is forced towards moving away from reliance on Russian energy supplies.
