Growing rift between Berlin, Warsaw over Nord Stream investigation

The ongoing investigation into the September 2022 underwater explosions that destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea — key conduits for Russian natural gas — risks straining relations between Berlin and Warsaw following a new Polish court ruling.

A court in Warsaw has decided that a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany in connection with the blasts will not be extradited and has ordered his immediate release, according to Polish media reports.

The 46-year-old, identified under Polish privacy laws only as Volodymyr Z., was arrested near Warsaw in late September based on a German-issued warrant. German prosecutors have described him as a trained diver and allege he was part of a group that planted explosives on the pipelines near Denmark’s Bornholm Island.

He is one of two Ukrainians that German authorities have sought to extradite as part of their ongoing Nord Stream investigation.

On October 17, a judge from Warsaw’s district court rejected Germany’s extradition request, ruling that it “does not merit approval.” The judge emphasised that the purpose of the hearing was not to determine the suspect’s guilt but to assess whether the circumstances justified the execution of a European arrest warrant.

“The Polish court has no evidence in this matter, as the German side provided only very general information,” the judge said. The court also lifted the temporary detention order, instructing that Volodymyr Z. be released immediately.

Bad blood over energy megaproject

Although Warsaw had previously maintained that the extradition decision was solely a judicial matter, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk indicated earlier this month that turning over the Ukrainian suspect would not be in Poland’s national interest.

He argued that the real issue was not that the Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed, but that “they were built at all.”

Poland has long opposed the Nord Stream projects, warning that they would entrench Europe’s dependence on Russian energy and expand Moscow’s leverage over the continent. The recent court decision — and Warsaw’s clear political stance — underscore how the Nord Stream sabotage case continues to reverberate through European politics, deepening divisions between key allies.

By Nazrin Sadigova