Pipeline politics: Balancing energy needs and environmental concerns in European Union - Russian Federation relations?

For decades the European Union has been building its normative identity on the international scene. In line with this goal, one of its core normative priorities became environmentalism and the fight against climate change, visible especially in the policies related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions or shifts away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Hence, within this article, we evaluate this proclaimed self-identification as a global environmental leader through the stances of the Union towards the Nord Stream 2 project. With the help of Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) and a sentiment analysis, we juxtapose the environmentalist claims against the reality of energy-driven interests of the block and a major natural gas pipeline from Russia. Moreover, we contrast the European ideal with the Russian pragmatism about fossil fuel projects and thus highlight the differing approaches to the pipeline over the years 2015–2021. Our analysis therefore adds to the critical discourse on the Normative Power Europe (NPE) concept but also questions the illusive Russian interest in environmentalism evident in our results, which we evaluate as a mere selling tactic for the pipeline.