What goes on in Poland on the 29th of January.
US LNG and Nord Stream 2 at the meeting of Tillerson and Czaputowicz
– We perceive the visit of the secretary of state Rex Tillerson in Poland as a confirmation on close tights between Poland and the USA – said the minister of foreign affairs Jacek Czaputowicz after Saturday’s meeting with American head of diplomacy.
The main topic of the meeting were perspectives of further Polish-American cooperation. Czaputowicz noticed that the basis of bilateral relations are security issues, but energy cooperation and energy security start to gain on meaning. – We share the view of necessity of diversification of supply of energy sources to Europe by exporting American LNG, but also development of energy projects in frames of the Three Seas Initiative – pointed minister Czaputowicz.
Duda: Poland wants Russian gas, but it also wants the freedom of choice
Poland is against building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, not Russian gas deliveries. We want to have the same conditions as Germany – said the president Andrzej Duda during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
During the discussion he reminded that Poland presently consumes around 15 bn cubic meters of gas a year, whereas internal exploration is around 5 bln cubic meters and the rest must be imported. In this context he reminded the Baltic Pipe project, realized by Poland and Denmark, thanks to which gas from Norwegian shelf will head to Poland in 2022. – This is a crucial element for energy security at this moment – said president Duda.
While concerning to the controversial project of Nord Stream 2 he stressed that Poland, but also Ukraine and Slovakia are against building the pipeline. – Why are we against Nord Stream 2? Because it is a way of taking the role of transit countries of Russian gas away from these countries. Capacity of the new planned pipeline in connection with the existing Nord Stream 2 is enough to close the transit through the Yamal pipeline – he said.