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MONTREAL (dpa-AFX) – 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, it offered the country much closer economic 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.
Baerbock said to Joly that the moment Russia uses energy as a weapon, you have to make it clear: “We stand by each other, we stand by each other. And I know that it wasn’t easy for you. Thank you very much for that.”
The Canadian government is under pressure for permission to deliver the turbine. She is accused of evading sanctions. A parliamentary committee is currently investigating. The World Congress of Ukraine has even announced a lawsuit against the delivery. 1.4 million people with Ukrainian roots live in Canada.
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 minerals, hydrogen and liquid gas. “A good common trade policy can also promote values and standards worldwide,” she emphasized. In a few weeks, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also travel to Canada to intensify economic cooperation. Almost 700 German companies are active in Canada.
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 NPT and gave a keynote speech on transatlantic relations./mfi/DP/he
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