OREANDA-NEWS. The candidate for Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from the Soyuz 90 / Greens party, Annalena Berbock, against the backdrop of the situation with rising gas prices, accused the Russian authorities of seeking through "political pressure" to quickly obtain the remaining permits for Nord Stream 2.

Berbock has repeatedly spoken out against the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project and has repeatedly tried to carry out in the German Bundestag a project to stop the construction of the gas pipeline. According to a September 10 Politbarometer poll, only 16% of Germans would like to see Berbock as chancellor. Elections to the Bundestag will be held on 26 September.

"Russia is very reluctant to supply natural gas to Europe. One of the reasons for this is obvious: Russia wants to increase political pressure in order to quickly obtain the remaining permits for Nord Stream 2 and put the pipeline into operation," Berbock said in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND ).

In her opinion, "the victims will be customers in Germany, for whom gas prices will rise or who, in extreme cases, will even have to sit in the cold."

According to Berbock, the German government was in favor of Nord Stream 2, despite "all doubts, warnings and fears." As a result, now Germany "is in a situation of blackmail, about which there were many warnings," the politician said.

"The signal to Moscow from Berlin should be that Russia must fulfill its obligations and, as in the past, supply enough gas through existing pipelines," Berbock added.

Earlier, the representative of the Ministry of Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Suzanne Ungrad, against the background of historically high gas prices, stated that Russia is complying with its obligations under existing contracts for the supply of gas to Europe, and the rise in prices is associated with many factors.