Poland stepping-up efforts for Intermarium sovereignty

Posted by DanielS on Saturday, 15 October 2016 06:06.

Vistula Lagoon only accessible through an inlet in the north eastern part, in Russian Federation territory
The Moscow Times, “Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland’s ruling party, has announced plans to build a canal to bypass a stretch of territory controlled by Russia” 14 Oct 2016:

“By building this canal, we will demonstrate that we are a sovereign country,” Kaczyński told journalists in the port city of Elbląg. “This is for political-military interests,” he added.

The canal will go through the Vistula Split, a stretch of land that separates the Vistula Lagoon from the Gdańsk Bay in the Baltic Sea. The only way to access the Baltic from Elbląg is to go through Russian controlled waters. The canal, which authorities plan to complete by 2022, aims to change that.

“We already know that Russia will be against the building of the canal. But we will do it anyway. Soon, we will be celebrating the dig of the first shovel,” said Kaczyński.

Ecologists and locals, many of whom live off holiday-makers who travel to the split’s sandy beaches every year, have voiced concerns over the canal. But ministers say security concerns in the Kaliningrad region come before ecological threats.

“We already know that our eastern neighbors will be protesting this decision on ecological grounds,” said Poland’s minister for maritime trade Marek Gróbarczyk. “I call on ecological circles: do not become tools of their actions.”

Presently, the only inlet to the bay is to the upper right of the map, just below Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, Russian Federation.

Comments:

Posted by Serbia talks Intermarium on Sun, 16 Oct 2016 07:46 | #

Serbia wants more agreements with Poland.

Posted by Poland plans on North-Western pipeline on Sat, 22 Oct 2016 09:58 | #

Euractiv, “Poland puts hopes in ‘Northern Gate’ gas pipeline”, 19 Oct 2016:

Poland made the case today (19 October) for the “Northern Gate” gas pipeline project, designed to bring gas from the Norwegian shelf across Denmark to Poland.

The Polish government’s Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, told a hearing in the European Parliament that Poland wants to replace supplies from Russia with supplies from the West.

The project, also known as “Norwegian corridor”, aims at bringing 10 billion cubic metres of Norwegian natural gas per year (bcm/y) to Poland by 2022. From there, some of the Norwegian gas could be sent to other countries in Central Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Baltic states and even Ukraine. Currently, Poland consumes 14 bcm/y of gas.

The total amount of 10 bcm/y doesn’t look huge in comparison with the projected capacity of a project Poland opposes – the North Stream 2 pipeline, which has a projected capacity of 55 bcm/y.

The project’s history dates back to 2009. In 2013 the Commission granted the status of “Project of common interest” for Baltic Pipe, one of the components of the “Northern Gate”. In 2015, the Connecting Europe Facility gave a grant for a feasibility study.

Commission Vice-President in charge Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, who spoke at the hearing, said that the “initial thought” of the EU executive was that this was a very important project. A feasibility study will be ready by the end of the year, and next year, the “open season” will be held, meaning that commercial entities will express their interest in buying gas from the new route.

Naimski said that Russian gas in Poland was more expensive than in Western European countries, which are more distant than Poland. He said that his country wanted security of supply at the lowest possible price and that it saw the project as a competitor to Nord Stream 2, which also aims at selling gas in the Central European market.

In additional regard for Intermarium autonomy -

Poland wants EU to ban Nord Stream 2

Poland wants the European Union to ban the construction of a second pipeline to pump Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, alleging it undermines the bloc’s strategic interests and violates competition rules.