Lithuania sidesteps Nord Stream

VILNIUS, Lithuania, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline planned for the Baltic Sea is not a priority for the members of the European Union, the Lithuanian president said.

The European Parliament in 2006 described the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany as an interest to its member states, with Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs describing the network as a "priority."

Environmental concerns and diplomatic disputes have prompted a reconfiguration of the route for the pipeline, and new political concerns have focused the European energy needs elsewhere.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who assumed office in July, told reporters that it was not possible for Nord Stream to move forward, noting there was "no way" it would receive European funding, European news portal EurActiv reports.

Nord Stream would transit along a dual route through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Russia sees the project, and its South Stream counterpart, as an option to avoid politically sensitive routes through Ukraine that transfer 80 percent of all Russian gas to Europe.

Grybauskaite, a former European finance minister, said Baltic states still need to move to connect their energy systems to the rest of Europe but denied Nord Stream was a main concern.

"I'm hearing for the first time that this is a priority project for the EU," she said.