By Ed Turner, Reader in Politics, Co-Director, Aston Center for Europe, Aston University - If you’d asked experts just a fortnight ago what the key features of Germany’s approach to foreign and defense policy were, there would have been several strands. Alignment with the west, and of course membership of the EU and Nato would have been a feature.
The Swiss company that built the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, supposed to double the Russian gas supply to Germany, has filed for insolvency and left redundant all its staff, according to Swiss radio SRF. The US$ 11bn pipeline, which runs between Russia and Germany, was completed last September and waiting for final approval from German authorities, but was put on hold following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.