The Polish prime minister said on Tuesday that the extradition of a Ukrainian national, wanted by Germany on suspicion of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, was not in Poland's interest. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
Donald Tusk noted that the final decision on the extradition of Volodymyr Z., who was detained near Warsaw at the end of September, will be made by the court. At the same time, he recalled Poland's long-standing position of negative attitude towards the construction of gas pipelines, which, according to Warsaw, made Europe overly dependent on Russian energy resources.
"The problem of Europe, Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland is not that Nord Stream 2 was blown up, but that it was built at all. The extradition of this citizen to another country is definitely not in Poland's interest," Tusk said at a press conference.
The German side has not yet commented on the situation.
Addition
On Monday, a Polish court ruled that Volodymyr Z. must remain in custody for another 40 days while his extradition to Germany on the basis of a European arrest warrant is being considered.
The 2022 explosions, which both Moscow and the West consider an act of sabotage, marked a new stage in the conflict in Ukraine and severely reduced energy supplies. No one has officially claimed responsibility for the attacks. Ukraine denies its involvement.
Another Ukrainian citizen, suspected of coordinating the explosions, was arrested in Italy in August — he intends to appeal his extradition to Germany.
Volodymyr Z.'s lawyer stated that his client had committed no wrongdoing and intended to plead not guilty.
Earlier, the German Prosecutor General's Office reported that the detainee was one of a group of people who allegedly rented a sailing yacht and planted explosives on the gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. He is charged with conspiracy to commit an explosion and "unconstitutional sabotage."