WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that extraditing a Ukrainian man wanted in Germany over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions is “not in Poland’s interest,” while emphasizing that the decision ultimately rests with the courts.
Volodymyr Z, a Ukrainian national, was detained near Warsaw in late September. He is wanted in Germany in connection with the September 2022 blasts that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
A Polish court ruled Monday that Volodymyr Z must remain in custody for another 40 days while it considers Germany’s request for extradition under a European arrest warrant.
Speaking at a press conference, Tusk reiterated Poland’s opposition to the Nord Stream pipelines, which the country has long argued increased Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
“The problem of Europe, the problem of Ukraine, the problem of Lithuania and Poland is not that Nord Stream 2 was blown up, but that it was built,” Tusk said. “It is certainly not in the interest of Poland … to hand over this citizen to a foreign country.”
Tusk added that the government would not interfere with the court’s extradition proceedings.
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said last month that Volodymyr Z, a trained diver, was part of a group suspected of renting a yacht and planting explosives on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. Volodymyr Z has denied wrongdoing and, according to his Polish lawyer, will contest extradition.
Another Ukrainian, Serhii K, was arrested in Italy last month in connection with the explosions. An Italian appeals court approved his extradition to Germany, though the suspect is appealing the ruling to Italy’s highest court.
The explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, caused ruptures in Nord Stream 1, Russia’s main gas supply to Germany until Moscow cut deliveries in August 2022, and also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never became operational after Germany suspended its certification process ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow has accused the United States of orchestrating the blasts, a claim Washington denies. The pipelines had long been criticized by the U.S. and some European allies as a threat to Europe’s energy security.
