The German government on Monday dismissed the latest sanction threats by a group of US Republican senators who vowed to impose “crushing legal and economic sanctions” on the Port of Sassnitz of the German Baltic Sea over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“WE CLEARLY REJECT IT”
Speaking at a weekly press conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert, the government spokesman, said: “Our stance against extraterritorial sanctions is known. We clearly reject it.”
Seibert pointed out that his country was in talks with other European partners as to what next steps should be taken in reaction to these American sanction threats.
In another related development, German press agency dpa reported that Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had complained to his US counterpart Mike Pompeo about the latest threat of sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
In a phone call with Pompeo on Sunday, Maas said he was concerned about the letter from three senators to the Sassnitz ferry port on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen.