Energy geopolitics clouds Germany's post-Merkel election

GERMANY is preparing to go to the polls on Sept 26 in a historic election that will help shape the direction of the country after more than a decade-and-a- half of Angela Merkel's long chancellorship.

While the pandemic continues to frame the country's politics, other issues such as climate change have also appeared on the radar after the massive floods over the summer. Yet, a more surprising topic that has featured in the campaign is the US$11 billion Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline which has been strongly promoted by Ms Merkel, despite sometimes vociferous political opposition in Germany and key Western allies, especially the United States.

The pipeline will double the capacity of the existing undersea natural gas route from Russia to Europe. Ms Merkel has pushed hard for this to happen to enhance Germany's energy security as it completes the post-Fukushima disaster shutdown of its nuclear power plants next year, and phases out the use of heavily polluting coal by 2038. Gazprom said last week that the first gas flows via the almost-complete pipeline could start before year-end.