Poland's dream of end of Nord Stream 2 may come true: German media

Due to the poisoning attempt of Alexei Navalny, Poland has never been so close to stopping the construction of Nord Stream 2, Die Welt daily wrote. This project is not of an economic nature, but primarily of a political and military nature, warned the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paweł Jabłoński in the daily.

The German newspaper believes that nobody in the European Union criticizes the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline louder and more consistently than Poles. The article summarized by Deutsche Welle describes Polish reactions to the ongoing discussion in Germany on the stoppage of the construction of Nord Stream 2, which would happen as part of the sanctions against Russia for the attempted murder of a Russian oppositionist.

The newspaper reminded that Polish politicians have been sharply criticizing the German-Russian project for many years and above party divisions. In this context, it cited a statement by former defense minister Radosław Sikorski in 2006, comparing the gas pipeline to the Locarno agreements and the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.

The newspaper's Warsaw correspondent, Philipp Fritz, explains that "Polish politicians fear that Nord Stream 2 may make Europe more dependent on Russian gas", and by bypassing Poland "Putin may use the raw material as a means of political pressure".

"For us, Nord Stream 2 is anti-European," Jabłoński told the newspaper. 

In his opinion, the pipeline is a threat to the energy security of not only Ukraine or Poland, but the entire EU, believes the deputy minister, who sees in the attempt to poison Navalny that Russia is not a reliable partner.

After the attempt to poison Navalny,German politicians are extremely clearly demanding that the joint German-Russian project be withdrawn or at least the construction is suspended, writes Die Welt, stressing that even Chancellor Angela Merkel, a supporter of the gas pipeline, does not rule out sanctions affecting Nord Stream 2.

(PAP)