AT SEA: Finnish and Estonian groups protest against NordStream pipeline project
- 00:01:59
- ITN Source
AT SEA: Finnish and Estonian groups protest against NordStream pipeline project
Nationalist organisations from Finland and Estonia have held a protest action against the NordStream pipeline which will run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Estonian and Finnish protesters lowered their national flags in the waters between Finland and Estonia on Wednesday (September 26), as a symbolic reminder of the environmental dangers they say the gas pipeline would pose. "The Baltic sea is a place of peace," said Jussi Liikonen, one of the protesters. When finished, the 1,200 kilometre pipeline will run from Russia to Germany along the Baltic Sea sea bed, bypassing Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Last week, Estonia became the first nation around the Baltic Sea to reject an application to carry out work related to the undersea gas pipeline, delivering a snub to the Russo-German company planning it. NordStream is a joint venture between Russia's gas giant Gazprom and German E.ON and BASF. The Estonian government said it had the right to reject the application, as the results of drilling would have given information about its natural resources and their possible use. Estonain-Russian relations have worsened sharply since Estonia removed a World War Two monument from its capital city in April. The involvement of Russian interest in the pipeline has been one of the factors in Estonia's debate over the new link. A Nord Stream spokesman said Nord Stream's application for an additional survey in Estonian waters had been based on a request from Finland for Nord Stream to consider a more southerly route to reduce the environmental impact of the pipeline in Finnish waters. The Finnish Prime Minister said his country's main concern was the environment. In many of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, the planned pipeline has caused some controversy. The pipeline has met opposition from environmentalists and some Baltic Sea governments have also expressed opposition, particularly Poland and Lithuania who have asked the European Commission to fund a study for an overland route.
ITN Source | September 27, 2007
