In September 2022, half a year after the start of the war in Ukraine, someone blew up the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Through it, gas flowed from Russia to Germany. Now the German public prosecutor's office is looking for a Ukrainian suspect, but he probably took refuge in Ukraine. Here is the timeline of events:
2005: The German government with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD) and the Russian government with President Vladimir Putin sign a statement of intent to build the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. It was supposed to carry Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea, bypassing transit countries. It's actually an idea that dates back to the 90s.
2006: The company Sjeverni tok doo is founded, whose task is to plan and execute the project. Russian Gazprom and several European energy concerns participate in it, because not only Germany is interested in this method of gas supply, but also other European countries.
2010: Construction of North Stream 1 begins. The 1.224-kilometer twin-pipe gas pipeline connects Viborg in Russia with the German city of Lubmin.
2011/2021: Both pipes are commissioned. The goal is to supply Europe with gas for at least 50 years. According to the company Sjeverni tok, construction costs amounted to 7,4 billion euros.
The Russian annexation of Crimea does not play a role
2013: Construction of North Stream 2 begins. Two more pipes are laid, which largely run parallel to the existing ones.
2015: The first contracts on the use of Nord Stream 2 are signed. Gazprom and several European energy concerns are at the table again. A year before that, Russia annexed Crimea. For the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), this was not a reason to stop the project.
Resistance is growing
2016: From the very beginning, Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states have resisted the Nord Stream because of their security interests. Warnings also came from the European Union. When Donald Trump became the president of the USA, that country also opposed the Nord Stream. Trump believed that he was making Germany too dependent on Russian gas. The German government ignored all these objections and presented the Nord Stream not only as an answer to Europe's needs for a secure gas supply, but also as an instrument for achieving peace through trade.
2018: Construction of the Nord Stream 2 begins. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces for the first time that the Nord Stream is not only a private economic project, but "of course, political factors should also be taken into account". But stopping construction is out of the question for her.
2019: The US tightens its tone and Richard Grenell, the country's ambassador in Berlin, writes threatening letters to German companies participating in the project.
2021: Nord Stream 2 is complete. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), shortly after taking office, advocated stopping the project for political reasons. He characterized the gas pipeline as a "private economic venture" that should be looked at independently of relations with Russia. And those relations then became worse and worse.
The war changed everything
February 22, 2022: Due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, Chancellor Šolz stops the issuance of technical certificates and approvals for the operation of Nord Stream 2.
February 24, 2022: Russia attacks Ukraine. Critics of the Nord Stream project see in this a confirmation of their warnings. Gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1 continue, but on a smaller scale - due to the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia.
July/August 2022: Nord Stream 1 shuts down due to what Gazprom said was a turbine failure. Later, when the accident was repaired, the gas supply continued - only to be stopped again by the end of August. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said that it will continue only when the sanctions against Russia are lifted.
Who is behind the diversion?
September 26, 2022: Both Nord Stream 1 pipes and one Nord Stream 2 pipe are disabled by an explosion near the Danish island of Bornholm. Germany, Denmark and Sweden begin an investigation.
2023: Various theories emerge as to who could be behind this attack. The well-known American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in an extensive article on his blog, established that the action was carried out by American marines with the help of the Norwegian navy. He did not submit concrete evidence for that.
August 2024: The Polish State Prosecutor's Office announced that it had received an arrest warrant from its German counterparts for one person suspected of involvement in the attack. According to the information portal of the German public service Tageschau, this happened back in June. Ukrainian suspect Volodymyr Z. was, according to the Polish authorities, in Poland at the time, to take refuge in Ukraine "at the beginning of July". When asked why it did not react before then, the Polish State Prosecutor's Office replied that the German government had not entered the name of the suspect in the Schengen register of persons for whom a European arrest warrant had been issued - that is why the Polish border police could not arrest Volodymyr Z.
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