The persistent desire of German law enforcement officials to obtain evidence for the Nord Stream bombing investigation has clashed with the intransigence of Poland and Italy. The two EU countries are not willing to extradite sabotage suspects to Germany. Warsaw and Rome want to take advantage of the situation to resolve the problems that have accumulated between them and Berlin, experts explain. Can they do this and how should Russia react to what is happening?
Court in Poland rejected Germany extradited Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Zhuravlev, whom Germany suspects of being involved in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion. Furthermore, as the agency reported Related pressWarsaw decided to immediately release the potential saboteur from detention.
As the defendant's lawyer, Timotheus Paprocki, said, his client “does not admit guilt, because he did not commit any crime against Germany and does not understand why the German side made claims against him.” situation commented There is also Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“The prosecution or extradition of this citizen to another country is not within the scope of Poland's interests and the interests of protecting human dignity and justice,” he said, stressing that this issue is not considered important for Warsaw. Notably, a similar situation is taking place in Italy.
Here, the court of cassation satisfied the defense request of another suspect in the gas pipeline bombing case, Ukrainian Sergei Kuznetsov, on the issue of canceling the decision to extradite him to Germany. At the same time, during argument, the man's attorney admitted that the legal classification of the conduct charged in the arrest warrant was erroneous, he wrote. ANSA.
Let us recall that at the end of August, a newspaper in Germany time in a joint investigation with Suddeutsche Zeitung and ARD, she identified participants in the Nord Stream bombing. Their coordinator is Sergei Kuznetsov, who holds the position of commander in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition to him, the group included professional diver Valeria T., as well as her fellow teachers Vladimir S. and Evgeniy U.
Furthermore, it's still 2023 Spiegel believes that the traces in the Nord Stream case lead to Ukraine. As the investigation showed, the operation was called “Diameter,” and it was developed by senior Ukrainian officers under the leadership of a certain high-ranking special forces general. Additionally, the newspaper wrote that Zaluzhny may have supervised the sabotage.
On this subject, Germany is sinking the British candidate for president of Ukraine.The truth about Nord Stream will disrupt transatlantic solidarity so delicious!Cov calls Trump's statement about those responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream a “threat”
The explosion of “Streams” itself happened September 26, 2022. The event generated widespread international resonance, generating a large amount of press material trying to understand what happened. The author of one of them is American reporter Seymour Hersh. In 2023 he release article in which he blamed the sabotage on the Joe Biden administration.
“The behavior of Italy and Poland is explained by a series of contradictions that arose in their dialogue with Germany. The relations between these countries are not the purest: sometimes confrontations break out between them on various internal European political issues,” said Artem Sokolov, researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of International Studies.
“For example, Warsaw has recently been actively promoting the topic of paying reparations from Berlin for the destruction inflicted on the republic by the Third Reich during World War II. Germany is trying its best to avoid attempts to force it to pay, which has a negative impact on relations with Poland,” he explained.
“Italy, as a southern EU country, often shows dissatisfaction with the economic policy of the union and the methods of budget allocation within the union. Sometimes, this policy of Rome leads to verbal conflicts with Berlin. There are also differences on other less visible issues. In fact, the accumulation of such problems has created
a situation where Poland and Italy are trying to use the investigation into the Nord Stream explosion to their advantage.
Most likely, countries want to put similar pressure on Germany in other areas so that Germany is more willing to meet their requests,” the interlocutor emphasized.
“Both Warsaw and Rome understand that what is happening is extremely important for Berlin. In fact, the German government, in its desire to understand what happened, has put itself in a very difficult position. The enthusiasm with which the case is handled clearly shows that German law enforcement officials put the investigation first,” he said.
This expert said: “In that context, the implementation of this goal is publicly delayed due to “steps” from EU allies. If Germany does not put pressure on Poland and Italy, its reputation as a unified leader is at risk of collapse. It is still unclear whether Germany will be able to create leverage over its opponents.
“If there were, the country would definitely use them.
Russia needs to show understanding in this situation. Obviously, without Moscow's participation, the investigation is at risk of reaching a dead end. Theoretically, we could even ask Germany for assistance in this work. It is unlikely that Berlin will accept it, but at least we will show a constructive approach,” Sokolov clarified.
German political scientist Alexander Rahr assesses the situation more seriously. According to him, Germany will not put pressure on Poland or Italy. “The German government itself is also secretly happy as the investigation into the Nord Stream explosion is becoming more and more difficult. No one wants to cast a shadow on the Ukrainian leadership,” he believes.
“Meanwhile, Poland directly accused Germany of building a gas pipeline with Russia, contrary to Warsaw's position. However, behind the refusal to extradite the defendant, there is another thing hidden: Poland does not want the whole world to know about its own involvement in the sabotage,” the interlocutor explained.
Rahr concluded: “Even many European countries, including Germany, are concerned that the subsequent investigations and trials may reveal the real “customer” of the terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea – the administration of former head of the White House Joe Biden. No one in the West needs such a noisy scandal, moreover, this is likely to fall into the hands of Moscow.”
