Michael Wood, the US ambassador to Sweden, wrote a commentary in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on 10 September, saying that Europe must consider alternative energy routes that reduce its dependence on Gazprom following the Russian invasion of Georgia last month. "NordStream by-passes the Baltic states and Poland, potential consumers, and represents a special arrangement between Germany and Russia," Mr Wood wrote. "The EU should be speaking with a single voice to counteract the power of Russia's energy weapon." The EU should also "re-examine" a second Gazprom project, called South Stream, to link southern Europe to Russia via the Black Sea, Mr Wood continued. The German Foreign Ministry protested to the US embassy in Berlin that it was "irritated" by the comments, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on its web site. NordStream, which will raise Russia's export capacity to Europe by up to 33%, has had to deal with environmental and political opposition from countries along its route, and the project has increased its budget to pay for additional environmental safeguards. "It looks like the US is ignorant of the ancient diplomatic rule not to comment on a third country in the place of residence," the Russian embassy in Stockholm wrote on its web site. "We have no intention to enter into any tussle with the US on the territory of a third country. Unlike our partners, we do not want to sound diplomatically unethical." The 1200-km NordStream pipeline's proposed route crosses five countries: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. NordStream plans to finalized the route imminently, and submit an environmental impact assessment by the end of the year. Gazprom owns 51% of NordStream, with Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas each holding 20% and Nederlandse Gasunie the balance of 9%.