The European People’s Party (EPP) lead candidate to head the European Commission, Manfred Weber, kicked off a new phase of his campaign at Athens’ Zappeion exhibition hall with new slogans and a pledge that he will block the construction of Russia’s controversial Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, should he succeed Jean-Claude Juncker for Europe’s top job.

Weber, whose hawkish tone towards Moscow puts him at odds with most of the German political establishment, the majority of whom have been overly accommodating towards the Kremlin, said Nord Stream-2 is not in the interests of the EU. “I’m not the German candidate for the head of the European Commission, but a candidate for the European People’s Party,” said Weber, who added that that the pipeline’s construction poses serious security risks to the bloc’s energy independence.

“I am against the Nord Stream-2 project,” said Weber, who added, “It will increase the dependence of the EU on Russian gas and not decrease it. And we need more independence not dependence on Russian gas.”

 

Full article available: https://www.neweurope.eu/article/webers-campaign-for-eu-top-job-takes-aim-at-nord-stream-2-and-brussels-bureaucracy/