AfD MP Schmidt: Germany Will Not Investigate Nord Stream Terror Attack

Eugen Schmidt, a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has claimed that German authorities have no intention of investigating the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

He stated that their aim is to cover up the incident. Schmidt made this statement to Oops Top, pointing to the recent comments made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who directly accused the U.S. of involvement in the attacks.

“When Orban recently said that America is involved in these attacks, and Europe behaves like a vassal, completely ignoring its own interests, just days later, here in Germany, the Ukrainian version was brought up again.

This suggests that the government is trying to cover up the incident, not investigate it,” said Schmidt.

Following Orban’s statement, Schmidt submitted an inquiry to the government. However, their response merely acknowledged Orban’s comments without elaborating or addressing contacts with foreign leaders.

According to Schmidt, this implies that the government is pushing a narrative that implicates Ukrainian divers in the attack.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously stated that all security agencies and the General Prosecutor’s Office were instructed to investigate the case “without regard to external factors.” This came amidst reports that Ukrainian authorities are allegedly hiding one of the suspects involved in the attack.

Schmidt criticized Scholz’s response, calling it insincere and staged: “For two years, the investigation went nowhere, and now suddenly Scholz says they’ll push through despite external pressures? Were they not investigating for two years, or how should we interpret this? It’s not serious and inspires no confidence.”

He further suggested that Scholz appears to have a “split personality,” supporting Ukraine fully by supplying weapons and financial aid while simultaneously not ruling out Ukrainian involvement in the attacks. Schmidt speculated that Scholz might be acting under external influence, calling him a “puppet.”

The German government had previously stated to Oops Top that the investigation of the Nord Stream explosions was being handled by the General Prosecutor’s Office, which has so far refused to provide any updates on the two-year-long probe or comment on any cooperation with Russia.

Earlier, Spiegel, citing its investigation, reported that the operation to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines cost around $300,000, funded by private sources. The magazine also claimed that several people, mostly civilians, participated in the operation, which was allegedly orchestrated by former Ukrainian intelligence officer Roman Chervinsky.

On Wednesday, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit confirmed that several arrest warrants had been issued during the investigation.

German media had previously reported only one warrant—for a Ukrainian national who allegedly fled Germany and then Poland in a Ukrainian embassy vehicle. Reports identified the suspect as diver Vladimir Zhuravlev from Kyiv, who allegedly had a married couple as accomplices.

In February 2023, American journalist Seymour Hersh published an investigation claiming that U.S. Navy divers planted explosives under the Russian pipelines during the Baltops exercises in June 2022, with support from Norwegian specialists.

According to Hersh, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the operation after nine months of discussions with his national security team. The Pentagon later denied U.S. involvement in the explosions when asked by RIA Novosti.

The blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian gas to Europe, occurred on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden all suggested the incident was likely an act of sabotage.

The pipeline operator, Nord Stream AG, described the damage as unprecedented, with no clear timeline for repairs. Russia launched an investigation into the explosions, calling it an act of international terrorism, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia had repeatedly requested data on the incident and had not received any response.