Serving on behalf of 25 million Canadians and Americans of Central and East European heritage, The Central and Eastern European Council in Canada and the U.S.-based Central and East European Coalition express serious concern regarding the Joint Statement of the United States and Germany on Support for Ukraine, European Energy Security, and Our Climate Goals, which addresses the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. If the pipeline is completed, the Russian Federation will use this coercive tool to advance its geopolitical goals and influence in Europe. The statement does not specify what action would be taken by Germany should the Kremlin weaponize its energy sector against Ukraine and the rest of Europe. We believe that this agreement with its ambiguous language and objectives is inadequate in addressing the threat posed by the Kremlin’s aggressive behavior and violates our commitments from the Budapest Memorandum of 1994.
To demonstrate that the Biden and Trudeau administrations value the relationships with our European allies, their policies should clearly reflect their intent to jointly counter the hostile behavior of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, the Joint Statement does little to address the threats that Nord Stream 2 poses to the energy security of Central and Eastern Europe. We assert that the relationships that Canada and the U.S. maintain with many of the countries in this region, whose diaspora communities our organizations represent, may be harmed because of this arrangement. In order to resolutely counter Russia’s belligerent influence in Europe, we urge the U.S. and Canada to work with our European allies to develop and adopt a concrete and comprehensive plan of response.
The language in the Joint Statement and its potential implications only intensify our trepidation. The Biden and Trudeau administrations must continue implementing sanctions and encourage our allies in Europe to enact similar measures, to prevent the finalization and use of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. On the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of August 23, 1939, we call on our respective administrations to honor the history of our partners in Central and Eastern Europe by denouncing the completion and use of this political pipeline.
The Central & Eastern European Council in Canada (CEEC) represents the interests of 4.5 million Canadians.
Albanian Canadian Community Association : : Czech and Slovak Association : : Estonian Central Council : : Canadian Hungarian Heritage Council : : Latvian National Federation in Canada : : Lithuanian-Canadian Community : : Canadian Polish Congress : : Ukrainian Canadian Congress
The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) was established in 1994 and represents more than 20 million American voters whose heritage lies in this region. Its member organizations cooperate in calling attention to issues of mutual concern, especially as regards United States policy toward Central and East Europe. The CEEC regularly shares its concerns and ideas with the United States Congress and Administration.
American Hungarian Federation • American Latvian Association in the U.S. • Armenian Assembly of America • Belarusian-American Association • Bulgarian Institute for Research and Analysis • Congress of Romanian Americans • Washington Chapter Czechoslovak National Council of America • Estonian American National Council • Georgian Association in the USA • Hungarian American Coalition • Joint Baltic American National Committee • Lithuanian American Council • Lithuanian American Community • National Federation of American Hungarians • Polish American Congress • Slovak League of America • Ukrainian Congress Committee of America • Ukrainian National Association
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