Slovakia hopes Nord Stream-2 not to weaken EU energy security

MOSCOW, Oct 9 (PRIME) -- It is very important for Slovakia that Russia’s Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline does not weaken E.U. energy security and does not diminish Slovakia’s status of a transit state, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday in a news conference following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“Slovakia’s position regarding Nord Stream-2 is quite clear: it is important for us that Europe’s energy security does not weaken as a result of (implementation of) this project, and it is obvious that it is important for us to keep the role of Slovakia as a transit country on the way of Russian gas to Western Europe,” he said.

“We are looking at this problem from two points of view.”

Lavrov said that energy cooperation, including nuclear cooperation, is successful.

“I am sure that Slovakia can count on Russia as a reliable supplier of hydrocarbons from now on,” he said.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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