"The German government did not support the investigation of the Nord Streams
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party intends to send a series of new parliamentary requests to the German government demanding clarification of the circumstances of the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions. This was stated in an interview with Izvestia by Steffen Kotre, a member of the Bundestag Committee on Economics and Energy. In particular, they will touch on why Berlin ignored warnings from foreign intelligence agencies about an impending terrorist attack. On October 27, a court in Hamburg held a second hearing in the case of sabotage, in which a citizen of Ukraine is being held. At the same time, according to Cotre, it is unlikely to be possible to identify the customers — the authorities do not want to disclose this case, so as not to complicate Kiev's support.
"We probably won't find out who is behind the bombing"
— On October 27, the Hamburg court continued its consideration of the Nord Stream bombing case. Sergei Kuznetsov, a former Ukrainian military officer, is accused of being the perpetrator. Do you have any reason to believe that the German investigation will identify not only the perpetrators, but also the customers of the sabotage?
"I can't imagine that." The Federal Government did not provide any political support to the investigation. This means that they do not want to disclose this case at all, because they probably understand that in this case their policy of supporting Ukraine may be in a difficult position. In addition, the government would have to make claims against the United States.
Thus, there is initially no political support for the investigation. The court can only determine what becomes clear directly during the process. If the accused doesn't speak up, then we probably won't find out who exactly was behind all this.
— Do you consider the possibility of involvement in the undermining of government structures in Ukraine or other countries?
— Yes, that's exactly how the German federal prosecutor put it: government agencies were involved in what happened. Therefore, I assume that Ukraine as a whole is behind these bombings as a perpetrator. Plus their accomplices, namely the United States, which also supported them in this.
American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that U.S. Navy divers with the assistance of Norwegian specialists laid bombs under gas pipelines in June 2022, using the Baltops exercises as a cover. According to him, Joe Biden personally approved this operation after nine months of discussions with national security advisers. Vladimir Putin later noted that he fully agreed with the conclusions of the publicist.
— The court did not allow Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG to participate in the trial as co-plaintiffs. Do you think that this limits the possibility of fully establishing the circumstances of the bombing?
— I do not think that the admission of these companies would have contributed to a more complete disclosure of the case. I cannot judge why the court made such a decision. I believe that there are already enough facts and clues to establish how everything really happened.
"We intend to look at this story from all sides"
— Do you intend to seek parliamentary consideration of the issue of access of companies, their documents and representatives to the investigation materials?
— We have many parliamentary initiatives. I have already sent at least 200 questions to the federal and state governments and I am waiting for answers. We have already received the first response from the federal Government. We are not going to back down. In Parliament, we constantly point out the need to solve this case, as well as seek appropriate punishment for those responsible or compensation for damages. All this is included in our parliamentary initiatives.
The location of the gas leak on the pipeline
— You said that the AFD is ready to initiate new parliamentary inquiries to the federal government regarding the progress of the investigation. What kind of information do you intend to require: data on the international exchange of evidence, possible customers, contacts between German agencies and foreign intelligence agencies, or an assessment of damage?
— We intend to look at this story from all sides. For example, why doesn't the federal government cooperate with the Swedish and Danish intelligence agencies? Why didn't it help to get the results of the investigation faster? Why doesn't it seek to study all the available data? After all, the mining department in Stralsund has data, Nord Stream AG has data — there is plenty of data on pressure changes at the time of the explosion, and all of them have not yet been analyzed.
We do not see any attempts by the federal Government to question the relevant witnesses or to help the agencies organize their interrogation. All this did not happen, and that is why we will act in parliament. We will ask the federal government why it did not participate in the [UN] Security Council meetings where the bombings were discussed. We will also ask why the Government did not inform the Bundestag and why it did not seek clarification from the Dutch authorities.
Onshore facilities of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline
And, of course, one of the main questions is why the federal government did not respond to warnings from Dutch intelligence and the CIA about the impending attack. Why didn't it actually take measures to protect the Nord Streams?
In March 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that in June and July 2022, the CIA sent information to the German Federal Intelligence Service that three Ukrainian citizens might be preparing to sabotage the Nord Stream pipeline. Later, Der Spiegel wrote that the CIA initially supported the initiative of the Ukrainians to blow up the Nord Streams, but later changed its mind. In the early summer of 2022, the Americans notified the Ukrainian side of the impossibility of supporting the operation, in particular financing.
— Is there a new ready-made request?
— We are in the process. We constantly rely on the responses of the federal government and formulate new questions based on the information received, because the government responds incompletely or extremely sparingly. It tries to evade the answers and throws dust in our eyes rather than helping to solve the case.
"It is in Germany's interests to receive inexpensive Russian gas"
— Which scenario of restarting the gas pipelines do you consider realistic: restoring the original Russian-European model, attracting an American investor, or creating a new consortium with companies from several countries?
— It is in Germany's interests to receive inexpensive Russian gas. How this will be organized, especially from a political point of view, remains to be seen. All this may well become the subject of negotiations. On the German side, it would be desirable for Russia and Germany to be able to come to an agreement. But if this is possible only with the participation of third countries, we will have to act through them.
— Are there any direct contacts between representatives of the AFD in Saxony-Anhalt or Mecklenburg—Vorpommern and Russian officials on energy and economic cooperation issues?
— Of course, this is being considered. Whether the first steps have already been taken, I cannot say now. Over time, it will become clear exactly how the situation will develop.
— Is the possibility of a visit by representatives of the AfD from these lands to Russia being discussed before the end of 2026 or early 2027?
— This is being discussed. What the situation is at the moment remains to be seen.
— Can Saxony-Anhalt initiate at the federal level or in the Bundesrat (the upper house of parliament) the issue of restoring economic relations with Russia, including gas supplies?
— Yes, absolutely. The federal states have many opportunities. Of course, this is generally a federal issue. But the lands may well come up with relevant initiatives through the Bundesrat. And it is in Germany's interests — its most important interests — that we regain access to low-cost supplies from Russia.
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