A German state parliament has reportedly heard testimony of US meddling to prevent the construction of the flagship gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia in 2021.
Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thomas Krüger, claimed that US intelligence agents tried to interfere with the construction of Nord Stream 2 during Donald Trump's presidency by working directly in Germany, citing testimony from unnamed witnesses.
"Both witnesses testified today that representatives of the US secret services actively campaigned with environmental associations in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to prevent Nord Stream 2 [construction] and offered their support," he said, as quoted on the parliamentary group's website.
One of the witnesses also indicated that a representative of the intelligence services approached him directly and later met with him on the territory of the federal state, justifying his actions with "US interests."
"This makes it clear: During the Trump administration, the US government also used secret service means to oppose Nord Stream 2 directly in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in order to enforce its interests," Krüger asserted.
It was previously reported that the commission called former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the Prime Minister of the federal state Manuela Schwesig as witnesses regarding the creation of the fund supporting the pipeline's construction. In Germany, they are considered former lobbyists for the construction of Nord Stream 2. The exact dates for the hearings are yet to be announced.
In January 2021, the parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania approved the government's proposal by a majority vote to create a fund to support the pipeline (Klimastiftung MV). Its goal was to support projects for "climate protection" and nature conservation. Schwesig stated that the fund would have a limited mandate to support the completion of Nord Stream 2.
German media claim that this structure was funded by Gazprom and acted as an intermediary in concluding contracts with companies ready to complete the pipeline shortly before the terrorist attacks on them. It is clarified that all this allegedly happened bypassing US sanctions.
Handelsblatt previously reported that current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as finance minister in 2020, proposed a secret deal with the US to prevent sanctions against the then-under-construction pipeline.
Nord Stream 2 runs from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany and consists of two strings with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Its construction was fully completed in September 2021, and work was underway to launch it, including technical measures and obtaining regulatory approvals, primarily from German authorities. However, after Russia recognized the sovereignty of the DPR and LPR in February 2022, Berlin halted the certification. Additionally, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the project's operator Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO Matthias Warnig at the same time.
On September 27, 2022, an explosion disabled one of the two strings of Nord Stream 2, while the second remained undamaged. On the same day, explosions destroyed both strings of the parallel export pipeline, Nord Stream.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office initiated a case into international terrorism regarding the explosions. The German prosecutor's office is investigating the incident, but no interim results have been presented yet.