Andrzej Duda: I took the words of the former head of German intelligence regarding Nord Stream as absurd
I have accepted the statements of the former head of German intelligence as a complete absurdity; on the other hand, perhaps some kind of game can be seen in this,’ said President Andrzej Duda, referring to August Hanning’s statement that the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines must have been carried out with Poland’s support.
In mid-August, the US newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that the Ukrainian authorities were responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. This was denied by an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolak; in his view, Russia was behind the September 2022 attacks. Also in mid-August, Die Welt published a statement by the former head of the German Foreign Intelligence Service (BND), August Hanning, according to which the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines must have taken place with the support of Poland and with the approval at the highest level – of Ukrainian President Zelensky and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
President Andrzej Duda was asked about ‘voices in Germany calling Poland to account for what happened behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline’ on Sunday evening on TV Republika.
‘I accepted the statements of the former head of German intelligence as a complete absurdity, looking from the political side. But from the other side, perhaps one can see in it some kind of game that is being played, I don’t know with whom, with the Russians together? Because this is the only way to look at it, if such accusations are made against an allied country,’ – Duda said, stressing that Poland is an ally country of Germany. I have to say that I find this behaviour shocking and astonishing,’ the president noted.
He pointed out that both the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were ‘actually meant to pursue German-Russian interests’. ‘Let no one here tell you that this was supposed to be some kind of energy security for Europe. On the contrary, it was supposed to be an energy danger for Europe’. – assessed Duda.
As he pointed out, anyone familiar with the gas energy market knows perfectly well that ‘in essence, the Russians’ interest was to have the greatest possible gas hegemony and to monopolise the European market as much as possible with supplies from Russian deposits realised by Gazprom’. The Germans, in turn,’ said the president, ’were rubbing their hands, because all these gas pipelines – bypassing Central Europe, Poland, Ukraine and our neighbouring countries such as Slovakia – would go from Russia straight to Germany, and so Germany would also have its hand on this gas tap.
In the president’s view, ‘this was in fact a joint Russian-German interest to the detriment of Central Europe, a detriment above all in terms of security, energy security’. ‘But, as you can see, not only energy security, because the result of Russian brutal imperial policy was not only gas crises, not only turning off the gas tap to Ukraine, but today outright military aggression against Ukraine,’ – Duda pointed out.
Asked about the danger of a return to a German-Russian agreement, the president assessed that it is no secret to anyone that ‘Germany and Russia are a conglomerate of common interests’.
‘There is big business behind it. The activities of former German Chancellor Schroeder (Gerhard Schroeder – PAP note), his business involvement in the Nord Stream projects, this is no secret. The fact that huge German business was involved is no secret.’ – he pointed out.
The president added that he could only ‘regretfully’ recall conversations with the then German chancellor Angela Merkel, when, he said, he appealed to her to stop the Nord Stream 2 investment in the first place. ‘I spoke to the chancellor about this many times, I asked her many times and I heard repeated assurances that this is a business project that is being carried out by business, that she, as chancellor, as the German federal authorities, has no influence on this,’ – Duda reported.
‘It was with great indignation that I later received her phone calls first to US President Joe Biden to unblock the Nord Stream 2 investment, previously blocked by President Donald Trump, and then phone calls to Vladimir Putin with joy that this investment had been unblocked and that it would be possible to carry out this joint anti-European business,’ – Duda said.
On 26 September 2022, three of the four lines of the two gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 were destroyed at a depth of about 80 metres at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. For years, a large proportion of Russian natural gas for Germany was supplied directly through Nord Stream 1. Many Eastern European and Western countries have repeatedly strongly criticised the project and warned of the geopolitical consequences of bypassing Eastern Europe in gas transit.
During the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Moscow suspended deliveries even before Nord Stream 1 was destroyed. Nord Stream 2, on the other hand, was ultimately not launched due to the Russian invasion and the resulting political disputes.
At the end of August this year, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that a Ukrainian citizen, Volodymyr Zh., suspected of sabotaging the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, fled Poland in a Ukrainian diplomatic car and had previously driven through Germany unhindered. Berlin is convinced that the authorities in Warsaw warned the wanted man, German media reported. ‘The German government (…) is furious with Warsaw’. – wrote the weekly, adding that people connected to the German security services say they ‘will not forget the Poles this foul’.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
