Nord Stream Case Muddies the Waters

The specter of Nord Stream has returned to haunt the transatlantic community. 

In June, Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian citizen, presumed to live in Poland, who was accused of having sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines on September 26, 2022. The Wall Street Journal then reported that the Ukrainian government had supported the operation. The resulting media frenzy accelerated when the former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service (1998–2005), August Hanning, asserted that the sabotage could have happened only with Volodymyr Zelensky’s greenlight and Poland's approval. 

Since its conceptualization and subsequent commissioning in 2011, this network of offshore pipelines under the Baltic Sea has established itself as Europe's most divisive energy project. By connecting Russia directly to Germany to provide Western Europe with natural gas, it bypassed Ukraine and Poland, limiting transit fees and thus revenues for Kyiv and Warsaw. The project enabled European energy dependence on Russia, causing outrage in Central Europe and the Baltics, but also in Washington, DC. The United States adopted its first sanctions in 2019 amid geopolitical tensions with Moscow.

The rumors of Ukraine’s and Poland’s involvement currently circulating in the media risk antagonizing Berlin on the one hand, and Warsaw and Kyiv on the other, at a time when solidarity is essential. The German far-right nationalist party Alternative für Deutschland has already exploited the case to fuel its anti-Ukrainian rhetoric domestically.

Yet, the entire Polish political spectrum, including Donald Tusk, rejects the allegations of the supposed participation of the Polish state in the sabotage. The Ukrainian government has promptly denied its involvement as well. Both sides believe that Russia seeks to split apart US and European allies, and some voices state that Russia itself carried out the September 2022 attacks for this purpose. 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s silence on the matter is probably designed to show that this issue does not deserve attention. Berlin recently approved the use of German weapons in Ukrainian strikes on Russia and reiterated its financial commitment as part of a €50 billion G7 loan. In concrete terms, support for Kyiv remains, despite uncertainty surrounding the shape of the next ruling coalition’s budget.

Poland and Germany must preserve the momentum that began with the new “Polish-German Action Plan” for closer cooperation signed on July 2, 2024. Neither the Nord Stream case, nor Polish post–World War II compensation claims should interfere with the current positive momentum.