Securitisation in the Gas Sector: Energy Security Debates Concerning the Example of the Nord Stream Pipeline

Abstract

The chapter compares the securitisation of transnational energy infrastructures in Germany and Poland through the example of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The pipeline allows for direct natural gas deliveries from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea—bypassing the traditional transit countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Poland among them. Thus, its construction is one of the most controversial energy issues in German-Polish relations. Scrutinising the national debates about the Nord Stream pipeline, Heinrich examines the kind of security debates that have occurred, what risk/threat perceptions exist, and the nature of the counter-measures that have been proposed in Poland and Germany.