The US and Poland will need to keep working together to fight European energy security threats represented by the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and possible additional Russian-backed projects, Polish President Andrzej Duda said following a White House meeting last month with US President Donald Trump.
“Unfortunately, we have to be clear and say that, both from the German side and from the Russian side, [Nord Stream 2] construction has already been started. There is still some formalities going on connected with the laying of the pipes at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. However, this investment, without any doubt, threatens energy stability of Europe and Poland,” Duda said in a joint post-meeting appearance with Trump.
“There is a threat of Russian energy domination, especially when Russia mentions that it’s going to build more pipelines—Nord Stream 3, Nord Stream 4,” Duda said. “This threat of absolute Russian domination in Europe, in terms of gas deliveries, is obvious.”
The rest of Europe saw this when Russian gas giant Gazprom cut off supplies to Ukraine a few years ago, Duda said. “Of course, it had nothing to do with economic factors. It was connected only and exclusively with political blackmail. It was a fact,” he stated.
“And it is obvious that today we are making efforts and we are going to go to any lengths to protect ourselves from that. That is why we decided to construct an LNG terminal. That is why we also decided to receive the LNG from the US,” he said.
Thanks to constructing the LNG import terminal and expanding its capacity, Duda said that Poland not only will be able to satisfy its own energy needs but also gas to its neighbors through construction of interconnectors under the Three Seas Initiative.
In his remarks, Trump said that Poland has worked tirelessly to increase energy independence nationally and across Central Europe. “It is constructing a new pipeline—the highest technology—from Norway to Poland, and it recently built [an LNG] import facility,” he said.
“Last year, the United States was proud to send its first export of LNG to Poland, and soon, our nations will launch a high-level diplomatic exchange on energy security,” Trump said.