Nord Stream sabotage defended by Poland’s Tusk, sparks outrage

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó has accused Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk of defending terrorism after Tusk justified the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Tusk argued that the problem with Nord Stream 2 was not that it had been blown up, but that it had been built in the first place. The pipelines, which carried Russian natural gas to Germany, were damaged in 2022, shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.

Szijjártó condemned Tusk’s comments, asking what else the Polish prime minister could find “forgivable or even praiseworthy.” He expressed shock at Tusk’s acceptance of the pipeline’s destruction and wondered what other infrastructure could be targeted and still be considered acceptable. Szijjártó emphasized that Europe should not become a place where prime ministers defend terrorists.

Berlin’s prosecutors have attributed the Nord Stream sabotage to a small group of Ukrainian nationals, a version of events dismissed by Moscow as “ridiculous.” Moscow has suggested that the United States might have been involved. Meanwhile, the EU has set a goal of completely cutting off Russian energy by 2027, but some member states—such as Slovakia and Hungary—still rely on Russian crude delivered through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

The Druzhba pipeline, one of the world’s longest energy networks, stretches roughly 4,000 kilometres and carries oil from Russia and Kazakhstan to several European countries. Since 2022, its flow has been reduced as the EU seeks to decrease reliance on Russian energy. Germany and Poland have halted imports, while Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic remain dependent on the pipeline’s southern branch. Recent attacks by Ukraine on the Druzhba network have disrupted supplies and heightened tensions between Kyiv and Budapest.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused Ukraine of compromising his nation’s energy security because of his opposition to Kyiv’s EU bid. The European Commission has ordered the restoration of flows through the pipeline. The dispute underscores the complexities of European energy politics and the ongoing challenges posed by the Ukraine conflict.