Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project undermines the European Union's energy policy from within, being particularly dangerous because of its influence on Germany.
"The attempt to poison the main opposition activist with a banned chemical, two days before the scheduled debate on EU-Russia relations that was to take place in Berlin, is a challenge for the entire democratic community. You cannot threaten Russia from a distance with your index finger and then get entangled in the Nord Stream 2 project with Gazprom," he said as reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on September 13.
You cannot threaten Russia from a distance with your index finger and then get entangled in the Nord Stream 2 project with Gazprom
According to Morawiecki, the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline undermines the EU's energy policy from within.
"The pipeline would make Europe dependent on Russian gas supplies and give the Russian oligarchs a substantial injection of funds. However, the most dangerous thing about it is that Russia, under the guise of economic cooperation, is gaining influence over the behavior of one of the most important partners, economically and politically, in the EU and NATO: Germany," he said.
The pipeline would make Europe dependent on Russian gas supplies and give Russian oligarchs a substantial injection of funds
The Polish official insists that Europe should view the situation in Belarus and the attack on Alexei Navalny as "perhaps the last reminder."
Read alsoEU High Representative on Nord Stream 2 completion: "Up to the Germans"Russia, under the guise of economic cooperation, is gaining influence over the behavior of one of the most important partners, economically and politically, in the EU and NATO.
"The only rational way out would be to put the Nord Stream 2 project aside. This is not just the voice of Poland; German politicians, especially Norbert Röttgen and Friedrich Merz, are of a similar opinion," he summed up.
Navalny poisoning: background
- On August 20, Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny felt sick on board the plane he was flying from the city of Tomsk to Moscow. His rapidly deteriorating condition forced the captain to perform an emergency landing in Omsk. Two days later, he was evacuated from Omsk to Charite, a hospital in Berlin, Germany.
- On September 4, it became known that experts from the German military's Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology in Munich had found traces of a toxic substance from the novichok group in samples of Navalny's blood, urine, and skin. European politicians have repeatedly called on Russia to investigate Navalny's poisoning.
- On September 4, ambassadors of all 30 NATO member states at a special meeting called for an international investigation into the Navalny case.
- On September 6, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he hoped that "the Russians won't force us to change our position regarding the Nord Stream 2" pipeline in connection with the poisoning of Navalny. Yet, he acknowledged that the refusal to complete the pipeline would harm the interests of a number of firms from Germany and other European countries.
- On the same day, Germany's Federal Minister of Defense, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said she was ready to discuss the issue of imposing sanctions on Russia, including regarding the unfinished Nord Stream 2 project.
- What is more, a representative of the German Chancellor said on September 7 that Angela Merkel did not exclude that the situation around the poisoning of Navalny could affect the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
- On September 8, 2020, the Kremlin said they did not see grounds for negotiations with Germany on Nord Stream 2.
- On the same day, September 8, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Germany should stop building Nord Stream 2.
- On September 9, 2020, Poland offered Germany an alternative to Nord Stream 2.
- On September 11, 2020, German authorities announced they were considering the suspension of Nord Stream 2 as a response to the situation with the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Navalny.