Germany says Europe is in a state of energy war

Europe is in a state of energy war, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said at a press conference, his words quoted by REUTERS.

Germany will demonstrate all its economic power in response, Lindner assured.

Vice-Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habek warned that the energy crisis that Europe is now experiencing threatens to develop into an economic as well as social one.

Lindner, in an interview with T-Online, has previously said that Europe is now in a state of energy war. According to him, the German government is doing everything in its power. “Electricity and gas markets are not functioning properly because of the deficit that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was pushing for: they were not prepared for such a shock. That is why now we must confront this crisis decisively and in a coordinated manner, ”the HEAD of the German Ministry of Finance emphasized.

At the end of September, Habek estimated the cost of replacing Russian energy imports for the German budget at more than €150 billion.

On the night of September 26, there were reports of a gas leak from one of the lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline: pressure dropped sharply there. A spokesman for the gas pipeline operator, Ulrich Lissek, attributed the fall to a "hole in the pipe."

Later, the Danish Maritime Authority discovered a leak southeast of the island of Bornholm, and the operator Nord Stream reported that pressure had dropped in both strings of Nord Stream 1. The company explained that this may be due to a violation of the tightness of gas pipelines caused by physical damage.

On September 27, two more leaks were detected - northeast of Bornholm, including in the economic zone of Sweden. No-navigation zones have been established in the areas of leaks. Two days later, the Swedish Coast Guard found a fourth leak on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, two of which originated in the country's exclusive economic zone.

Seismologists in Denmark and Sweden said that before the leaks appeared, they recorded powerful underwater explosions.

NATO believes that the damage to the gas pipelines was the result of deliberate sabotage. The Kremlin called the incident a terrorist act at the “state level”.