To the extent people outside the Baltic Sea coastal community have heard of the Port of Sassnitz, chances are it’s courtesy of Sen. Ted Cruz. Last fall, the junior senator from Texas—teaming up with fellow Sens. Tom Cotton and Ron Johnson—sent the German port a letter threatening “fatal measures” should it proceed with its plans to become a hub for Nord Stream 2. The humble Baltic Sea port, known mostly for its ferry traffic to Sweden and Denmark, is caught in a vicious geopolitical battle that sends a dire warning to businesses everywhere.
“This letter serves as formal legal notice that these goods, services, support, and provisioning [for vessels involved with Nord Stream 2] risk exposing Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH and Mukran Port, as well as your board members, corporate officers, shareholders, and employees, to crushing legal and economic sanctions, which our government will be mandated to impose. These sanctions include potentially fatal measures that will cut off Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH from the United States commercially and financially,” Cruz, Cotton, and Johnson wrote last August to Harm Sievers, the port’s managing director, and Fridjof Ostenberg, its legal director. Whatever one thinks of Nord Stream 2, these were highly unusual threats. Not only were they directed against a German company that operates in Germany and has broken no laws, but they were issued by three U.S. legislators without powers to impose such measures.
