There Never Was a Nord Stream “Secret Operation”: President Biden’s “Act of War” against Europe

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky and Dragan Vujicic: The sabotage took place with the knowledge of Berlin and Brussels

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Michel Chossudovsky’s interview with Dragan Vujicic, Serbia’s National News. (Excerpts and Edits by Chossudovsky, Part I)

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The Nord Stream sabotage was announced at a press conference in Washington on February 7, 2022, by President Biden. and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This announcement was tantamount to an Act of War by the United States against its  European Allies. 

Interview with Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, economist, professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa and editor of the renowned anti-globalist Global Research website.

According to Michel Chossudovsky:

“The Nord Stream gas pipelines that were the subject of the attack are located in the (maritime) territorial jurisdiction of four member states of the European Union.

In international law, the intentional destruction of the aforementioned “property” within the country’s territorial waters by or on behalf of a foreign state actor constitutes an act of war,” 

“It’s NATO against NATO”. This raises a precedent: A NATO member state is at war against a collective of European NATO member states, “allies” of America”  

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Dragan Vujicic (DV): You say that there was nothing secret about that Nord Stream operation?

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky (PMC): We should remember the press conference at the White House on February 7, 2022 at which the US president and Germany’s chancellor publicly expressed their intention to blow up the Nord Stream. Chancellor Scholz who was on an official visit to the United States, fully endorsed President Biden’s stated intent to blow up the Nordstream gas pipeline, “if Russian tanks enter Ukraine”.

Olaf Scholz was fully aware that this act of sabotage of the Nord Stream had been planned well in advance by the US Administration, to the detriment of more than 400 million Europeans.

DV: Do you have unequivocal evidence that Chancellor Scholz was involved?

PMC: I will read the transcript of that Press Conference on 7 February 2022. The questions were addressed to both President Biden and Chancellor Scholz: 

Andrea (Reuters) Q    Thank you, Mr.  President.  And thank you, Chancellor Scholz.  Mr.  President, I have wanted to ask you about this Nord Stream project that you’ve long opposed.  You didn’t mention it just now by name, nor did Chancellor Scholz.  Did you receive assurances from Chancellor Scholz today that Germany will, in fact, pull the plug on this project if Russia invades Ukraine?  And did you discuss what the definition of “invasion” could be?

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  The first question first.  If Germany — if Russia invades — that means tanks or troops crossing the — the border of Ukraine again — then there will no be no longer a Nord Stream 2.  We will bring an end to it. 

Q    But how will you — how will you do that exactly, since the project and control of the project is within Germany’s control?

PRESIDENT BIDENWe will — I promise you, we’ll be able to do it. 

Andreas (Reuters) Q  [to Chancellor Scholz]  And will you commit today — will you commit today to turning off and pulling the plug on Nord Stream 2?  You didn’t mention it, and you haven’t mentioned it.

CHANCELLOR SCHOLZ:  As I’ve already said, we are acting together, we are absolutely united, and we will not be taking different stepsWe will do the same steps, and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand.   (White House Press Conference emphasis added)

Video Below: Reuters Journalist: 10’15”

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PMC: Scholz’s answer is unequivocal. He endorsed Biden’s decision to bomb Nord Stream, while avoiding to address the substance of the Reuter’s journalist question: i.e “within the control of Germany” of which he is the head of government.

DV: So from these words of the German chancellor you conclude that Germany knew? 

PMC: Of course he knew, which does not mean that people in Germany and the EU knew.

His statement is unequivocal. He supported Biden’s decision to bomb Nord Stream. Scholz’s statement at the press conference confirms that this was a joint decision. In fact it was an “Act of Treason”, by the German Chancellor, which had also been endorsed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. 

DV: Do you think that this kind of evidence would be sufficient reason for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to deal with this matter.

PMC: International law is explicit in this regard. The Nord Stream pipelines which were the object of the attack are located within the (maritime) territorial jurisdiction of four member states of the European Union. In international law, “Territorial Integrity” extends to “properties” located within the territorial waters of the Nation State. The deliberate destruction of said “properties” within a country’s territorial waters by or on behalf of a foreign state actor constitutes an act of war. 

Based on International Law, the International Criminal Court (ICC) –not to mention the European Court of Justice (ECJ)– should have been able to confirm that it was an act of war.   But the ICC is corrupt. In Washington, Biden made it public when he said: “We will do it and we have a plan to do it”. And there was nothing secret about Biden’s public declaration.

I recall the act of aggression against the Former Republic of  Yugoslavia (FRY), in 1999. Your country was the object of a NATO act of war, and it was an illegal and criminal act based on fabricated evidence, allegedly with a view to coming to the rescue of Kosovo’s Albanian population. From a legal standpoint, extensive crimes were committed by NATO acting collectively against a sovereign country.  

Here we have a different situation. An Act of War against the E.U., which points to crimes against humanity. It also triggers a deep-seated crisis within the Atlantic Alliance, which I might describe as follows: A NATO country, namely the United States of America — through an illegal act of sabotage has (from a legal standpoint) attacked its European allies most of which are NATO member states. 

It is ironic, that following the attack on Nord Stream in September 2022, none of the EU-NATO member states raised the issue that this was an attack by a NATO Member State against all EU-NATO member states.

We might recall the issue of Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance’ Washington Treaty, which was used in October 2001 as a pretext to justify the invasion of Afghanistan, namely an attack by a foreign power against one or more NATO member states is an attack against all member states of the Atlantic Alliance under the doctrine of collective security.

The whole thing was a big lie. There was no evidence that Afghanistan had attacked America on September 11, 2001. 

In regards to the U.S bombing of Nord Stream, Article 5 obviously does not apply because the “foreign power”, namely  the U.S. is a NATO member state. What we are dealing with is a U.S. sponsored Act of War against the EU, bearing in mind that most EU countries are member states of NATO.

“It’s NATO against NATO”. This raises a precedent: A NATO member state is at war against a collective of European NATO member states. 

The question that should be raised is whether NATO still exists as an “alliance” when the U.S  exerting its sovereign rule over the European Union, declares an act of war against the EU-NATO member states which are “allies of America”.

DV: How do you view the European economy today? 

PMC. We are also dealing with an act of economic warfare against the EU.

The EU economy which has relied on cheap energy from Russia is in a shambles, marked by disruptions in the entire fabric of industrial production (manufacturing), transportation and commodity trade. 

A string of corporate bankruptcies resulting in lay-offs and unemployment is unfolding across the European Union. Small and medium sized enterprises are slated to be wiped off the economic landscape.

DV: American natural gas in Europe is now seven times more expensive and suppliers from the USA are asking the Europeans for 20 annual contracts to guarantee regularity of supply in return? 

PMC: In the long run, it won’t work. In a global economy, if you want to buy gas, you will look for the best price. You can purchase Russian gas via a third country. e.g. India. 

I should mention that the Euro is a dollarized  currency. The member states are financially dependent on the European Central Bank (ECB), presided by Christine Lagarde, a former head of the IMF.

The ECB is controlled by powerful banking institutions including Wall Street and the U.S. Federal Reserve. 

This social and economic devastation of both Europe and Worldwide has been ongoing since the outset of the corona crisis in early 2020, which targeted more than 190 countries.  The March 11 2020 Lockdown consisted in confining the labour force and freezing the workplace, resulting in bankruptcies and poverty. Supply chains of the real economy were broken.

 

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About the author:

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research. He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of 13 books. He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO's war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at [email protected]

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