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Gazprom: German authorities demand a report on the investigation of the Nord Stream explosion
The Alternative for Germany party is preparing new requests to the German government to investigate the bombing of Nord Streams, the Bundestag told Izvestia. Deputies have already sent observers to the trial of the first defendant in this case, a citizen of Ukraine. The trial started in Hamburg on October 14. According to the prosecution, the sabotage was carried out on instructions from Kiev. At the same time, the court previously rejected the claims of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG to act as co-plaintiffs. The opposition intends to find out whether the German special services could have prevented the attacks and whether they are hiding any evidence. The results of the pipeline bombing case may affect Berlin's policy towards Ukraine.
The Hamburg trial
On October 14, the trial of Ukrainian citizen Sergey Kuznetsov began in Germany. The German investigation believes that he participated in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The explosions occurred on September 26, 2022 in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark and Sweden. Three of the four lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were damaged. According to investigators, it was Kuznetsov who led the sabotage group that delivered and installed explosives on the Baltic highways on the rented yacht Andromeda, and she acted on behalf of Ukrainian government agencies. The accused faces up to 15 years in prison.
The first meeting lasted just over two hours. Among the evidence were intercepted phone conversations and a fake passport, which Kuznetsov allegedly used. The defense did not provide convincing counterarguments on the merits of the charges, focusing on the circumstances of the extradition, the political background of the case and the conditions of detention of the accused.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 27, and the entire trial will last at least until 2027. It attracts unprecedented attention for several reasons. On the one hand, we are talking about one of the largest acts of international sabotage in modern history, which actually destroyed Europe's key energy artery and caused enormous damage to Germany's industrial safety. On the other hand, there was a citizen of Ukraine in the dock, a state that official Berlin has been actively supporting both financially and with arms supplies in recent years.
At the same time, several observers from the Alternative for Germany party were present in court. It is this party, which is gaining popularity, that calls for dialogue with Moscow and the resumption of the Joint venture, which is technically still possible.
Special weight is given to the process by data on the identity of the defendant. Sergei Kuznetsov, who was detained in Italy, turned out to be not an amateur diver, but a career Ukrainian military officer associated with the SDF and the SBU. His professional background finally destroyed the version about "independent activists": after assessing the scale and technical complexity of the operation, the Federal Court of Germany concluded that the sabotage was carried out on behalf of a foreign state. The witnesses were ready to confirm that Kuznetsov acted on the orders of military commanders, the media wrote on the eve of the meeting.
— We expect objectivity, we expect the verdict to be announced, and we expect, of course, that the actual performers will be named along with the customer. That would be very important. I think no one doubts who this really is," Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president's press secretary, said earlier.
Russia's main complaint is that Moscow was not included in the investigation as a participant, despite its direct connection to the target of the attack. German, Danish and Swedish authorities conducted their own investigations within the framework of national jurisdiction. Sweden and Denmark subsequently dropped their investigations without making public accusations. Germany continued to work on the case.
In this regard, the Russian side will continue to work, including on international platforms, to identify the initiators of the Nord Stream bombing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Divisions grow in Germany over bombings
The approach to the investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage raises questions not only in Moscow, but also in Germany itself. The leader of the German BSW party, Sarah Wagenknecht, criticized the position of the country's leadership, calling the situation absurd. According to her, it is unacceptable for Germany to allocate billions of euros to support Kiev, but at the same time not officially demand a report from Vladimir Zelensky for the destruction of its critical infrastructure. Wagenknecht said that Berlin is obliged to take a tough stance and raise the issue of full compensation for the damage caused. The AfD party also insists on similar payments.
Steffen Kotre, a member of the Bundestag Committee on Economics and Energy from the AFD, stressed that they were primarily interested in the political circumstances of the case and the passivity of the federal government. They are preparing requests to the government on these issues, he said in an interview with Izvestia.
"We will find out exactly what the authorities did not do and where, what data was available and where, why this data was not analyzed, as well as what contacts and information exchange took place between the special services, departments and other bodies," the parliamentarian said.
According to his fellow party member Matthias Mosdorf, it is now important to find out all the circumstances of the bombing and make information about what happened public. The support of the Ukrainian government, which the AFD considers to be involved in this terrorist attack, does not meet the interests of Germany.
— First, Olaf Scholz (ex-Chancellor of Germany. — Ed.) said that it was possible that the Russians had done it. Later, there were versions about the involvement of the Polish and American governments. And now everything indicates that the Ukrainian government was well aware of the impending attack and may have provided direct support for its conduct," he stressed.
Representatives of other German parties fear that the process will become a reason to reconsider the course towards Kiev. According to Tagesschau, the Greens' foreign policy representative in the Bundestag, Deborah Duhring, accused the AFD of trying to call into question support for Ukraine, and Daniel Baldi, a member of the ruling SPD coalition, warned that refusing to help would play into Moscow's hands. At the same time, the damage to the German economy from the undermining of gas pipelines on the one hand and the financial interests of the defense industry on the other remain in the shadows.
However, even the establishment of any state's involvement in the attack on the energy infrastructure is unlikely to change Germany's policy regarding assistance to Ukraine, says senior researcher at IMEMO RAS Fedor Basov. According to him, the strike on the Nord Streams can be interpreted as an action of self-defense. At the same time, the trial has just begun, so it is too early to draw conclusions about its possible political consequences, the expert believes.
A separate issue is the participation of the affected companies in the lawsuit. On October 2, the Hamburg Higher Land Court denied the status of co–plaintiffs to the operators of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG. The reasoning for the decision states that even damage in the hundreds of millions of euros does not provide sufficient grounds for this, since companies can independently protect their interests.
The German authorities are now in a difficult position. Recognizing Ukraine's involvement would mean a violation of European unity and an official confirmation of Moscow's words that the leadership in Kiev poses a threat to the security of the whole of Europe.
Such a decision could provoke a split within the EU. For example, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Berlin should not pursue suspects at all, adding that those who built these pipelines should be ashamed, not those who disabled them. Croatia, where the second key person involved in the case, Ukrainian diver Vladimir Zhuravlev, was detained in August, is still delaying the process of his extradition. Although the Pula District Court approved the extradition to Germany, the defense immediately appealed the decision.
On the other hand, an attempt to conceal the results of the investigation will negate the main principles of Germany itself — the rule of law and transparency of justice, said Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. While Berlin is trying to sit on two chairs, nothing is changing in the official plane for Kiev. No one openly criticizes Ukraine's actions, and financial and military support continues in the same volumes.
But the European authorities will eventually have to take one of two paths, Denisov believes. They will be forced to officially admit that it is Ukraine that is responsible for the rise in prices of products for the EU population, the reduction of the competitive advantages of European industries and the systemic problems of Europe's energy security. Or European politicians will once again prefer to turn a blind eye to the problem, ignoring the enormous damage to their own citizens, the political scientist concluded. However, the latter scenario could further bring down the ratings of Germany's ruling coalition, which has already suffered heavy defeats in recent regional elections.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
