Poland Denies Claims of Involvement in Nord Stream Attacks

 

Poland's government is pushing back against new allegations that it may have had prior knowledge of the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline complex in 2022. The underwater blasts severed three of the four lines in the system, reducing Russia's ability to deliver natural gas directly to Germany. 

Last week, former head of German intelligence August Hanning told German outlet Die Welt that Kyiv and Warsaw were both in on the attack, at the presidential level. 

"According to the results of German investigation, it was carried out by a Ukrainian team, and when we look at the map, we can understand that this can only be possible with support from Poland," Hanning said. "And such decisions are not made at our level, they are decisions made at the highest political level."

"These are completely groundless insinuations," Polish presidential advisor Mieszko Pawlak told local network Polsat. Pawlak noted that Hanning was Germany's head of intelligence when the Nord Stream system was in the planning stages, and he accused Hanning of playing a "shameful and important role in the investment." 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded more forcefully. "To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The only thing you should do today about it is apologize and keep quiet," he said in a social media post.

Hanning has come under scrutiny in Germany for his private consulting work, including a period he spent as a board member of a Latvian bank that went bankrupt shortly after Hanning voted in favor of its sale. A bankruptcy administrator has pursued Hanning's assets over an alleged breach of fiduciary responsibility.  

Nord Stream was a controversial infrastructure project: it offered Russia a way to export its energy to German consumers without relying upon the terrestrial pipelines through Poland and Ukraine. Both nations lobbied hard against the subsea pipeline system during its construction, calling it a serious threat to regional security. By bypassing its neighbors' pipelines, Russia could exert its influence in its near abroad without fear of cutting off billions of dollars in Western European gas sales. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine just days after Nord Stream 2's scheduled startup date.  

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the plan to attack Nord Stream was concocted by Ukrainian military officers and businessmen as an off-the-books covert operation - with initial approval from Ukraine's president. Ukraine's government has denied the allegations.