Germany's top diplomat expressed ridicule and disdain toward former U.S. President Donald Trump's "energy dependence" comments at the 2018 United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Four years later and with Trump's remarks becoming reality, the diplomat is now refusing to comment.
The real estate mogul-turned-president issued a warning back in September 2018 about Germany becoming overly dependent on Russian energy. "Reliance on a single foreign supplier can leave a nation vulnerable to extortion and intimidation," he said.
Former German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was part of the country's UN delegation that time, serving under former Chancellor Angela Merkel. He was described as laughing and "shaking his head in disbelief" as Trump was delivering his speech before the assembly.
During his turn to speak, Maas did not explicitly address the U.S. president's comments. However, he took jabs at Trump's remarks by denouncing climate action "based solely on nationalism, with the objective of 'putting my country first.'"
The top German diplomat later told reporters: "Germany is not dependent on Russia, especially not on energy issues." (Related: Flashback: CBS News mocked Trump for warning of German reliance on Russian gas.)
Maas also denounced Trump's comment about the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, saying that it "does not correspond to reality."
While Berlin maintained that the project was strictly commercial, Washington expressed worry that Russia could utilize the NS2 pipeline to put geopolitical pressure on Europe.
Maas left the German Federal Foreign Office in 2021. He later joined the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, as a lawmaker under Merkel's Social Democratic Party (SDP). The SDP legislator paid no mind to Trump's remarks – until the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War.
Germany was among the Western nations to impose sanctions against Russia for invading its smaller eastern neighbor in February 2022. In response, Moscow decided to hit the Western European giant where it hurts – through the already extant Nord Stream 1 (NS1) gas pipeline.
Energy crisis cripples Germany
Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom tightened the screws on Germany by progressively reducing the flow of gas through NS1. It then cut off gas flow altogether and announced that resumption of natural gas flow could be delayed due to "technical issues."
Worse, Gazprom declared force majeure on gas supplies to at least one major customer in the European Union. The declaration, which had retroactively began on June 14, applied to Germany's gas supply via NS1. Gazprom's declaration, which came in the form of a letter, said the company could not fulfill its supply obligations due to "extraordinary" circumstances outside its control.
As a result, several companies in Germany were forced to suspend operations. Berlin also imposed energy rationing measures, with officials calling on Germans to exercise prudence with their electric consumption.
Uniper, Germany's largest gas importer, also called on Berlin for financial aid. The German company had been procuring gas supply from Gazprom, but the cessation of gas flows from NS1 forced Uniper to operate at a loss.
"What we see on the wholesale market is 20 times the price that we have seen two years ago," said Uniper CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach, referencing the massive price spikes of natural gas that followed NS1 suspending its operations.
The events in Germany, coupled with footage of Maas reacting to Trump's 2018 comments, prompted the Epoch Times to request a comment from the German lawmaker. However, a spokesperson for Maas said the legislator "will not comment on foreign policy issues."
Collapse.news has more about Germany's collapse brought about by the energy crisis, which Trump predicted.
Watch Maas react to Trump's speech against Germany's energy dependence on Russia below.
This video is from the harrier808 channel on Brighteon.com.
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