Tusk: It's the builders of Nord Stream who should be ashamed, not those who destroyed it

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that Germany should not prosecute people suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. His remarks came after a Croatian court ordered the pretrial detention of a Ukrainian man wanted by Berlin on suspicion of personally taking part in the sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.

"It's those who built this pipeline who should be ashamed, not those who disabled it," Tusk said, according to broadcaster TVP World. He added that Germany certainly should not go after people who took action in a situation where their own country had come under attack. The Polish premier recalled that he had criticised the Nord Stream project from the very beginning and has not changed his position since.

"Germany once held a different view. In the end it changed its mind, but too late," Tusk added in a statement also cited by Ukrainska Pravda. He said Poland had done everything it could to prevent the pipelines from being built, since they deepened Europe's energy dependence on Russia.

Threats from Moscow

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by saying that the Polish prime minister's remarks, which effectively justify the Nord Stream bombing, "could backfire on Poland's own security." According to the TASS news agency, Zakharova said the stance Warsaw is demonstratively taking on the Nord Stream explosions could one day boomerang back on Poland's own vital interests and security.

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were built by Germany and Russia to deliver Russian gas directly to Western Europe, bypassing transit countries such as Ukraine, Poland and Belarus — which also allowed both countries to avoid paying transit fees.

The sabotage and the accused Ukrainian

In September 2022, seven months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, a series of underwater explosions struck the seabed of the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm, seriously damaging three of the four pipeline strings belonging to both Nord Stream lines. Investigators confirmed the blasts were a deliberate act of sabotage. The pipelines have not operated since, while the European Union, in its push for energy independence from Moscow, has gradually cut its imports of Russian gas.

German prosecutors identified the suspected Ukrainian national as Volodymyr Zh., a professional diver. He is believed to have been part of a group led by a man identified only as Serhiy K., which allegedly planted the explosives on the pipelines. "The defendant took part in the dives required to carry out this operation," German prosecutors said.

Volodymyr Zh. was first detained in Poland back in September last year, but a Warsaw court refused Germany's extradition request and ordered his release. His lawyer has said he will appeal the Croatian court's decision to remand his client in custody. It remains unclear how long the extradition proceedings against Volodymyr Zh. to Germany could take.

As a reminder, Nord Stream 1 was launched in 2011, while construction of Nord Stream 2 was completed in 2021 — though it was never put into commercial operation due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Source: novinky.cz