Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has addressed the controversy surrounding the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage and remarks made by August Hanning, a former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND).
In a recent interview published by the German newspaper Die Welt, Hanning alleged that Polish President Andrzej Duda was aware of plans to sabotage the pipeline, which involved agreements with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Responding to these allegations, Tusk directed his comments toward all individuals associated with the Nord Stream 1 and 2 projects, stating on the social media platform X, “The only thing you should do today is apologize and keep quiet”.
Tusk’s remarks were echoed by the head of Poland’s President National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, who affirmed there is a consensus in Poland regarding the matter. Meanwhile, German media reported that a Ukrainian man who lived in Pruszków, near Warsaw, is one of the suspects in the sabotage case, and a European arrest warrant has been issued for him. However, Polish authorities have informed Germany that the suspect is not on Polish territory.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the operation to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline before attempting to call it off. The operation, which allegedly cost $300,000, involved a small rented yacht and a crew of six, including trained civilian divers and a woman whose presence was meant to create the impression that the divers were friends on a leisure trip.
The Nord Stream pipelines, which carried a significant portion of Russian natural gas to Germany, have been a subject of geopolitical controversy, with many Eastern and Western European countries criticizing the project for bypassing Eastern Europe in the transit of the resource.
The sabotage took place on Sept. 26, 2022, and resulted in the destruction of three out of four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.
The pipeline’s destruction came amid the Russian aggression against Ukraine, with Moscow suspending deliveries even before Nord Stream 1 was sabotaged and Nord Stream 2 never entering operation due to the Russian invasion and subsequent political disputes.
