Ukrainian MP on Germany’s financing of Russian gas sales
Manuela Schwesig, prime minister of north-eastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is the latest Social Democratic Party (SPD) member to come under scrutiny over her ties to the state-backed Russian gas pipeline that Germany has insisted on – both in the build-up to and from during the conflict in Ukraine – is only a commercial project.
Hundreds of emails and documents released under the Environmental Information Act show the 47-year-old regional leader allegedly set up an environmental foundation to secretly lobby Nord Stream 2, deflect it from criticism and avoid US sanctions.
She worked so closely with Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Gazprom and behind the project, that a revision of her public statements has been proposed.
Ms Schwesig, now dubbed “Putin’s puppet” by critics, is facing calls for her resignation, with Norbert Röttgen, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), accusing her of “collaborating with a Russian company and deliberately misleading the public.” to have”.
Ms. Schwesig gave a speech in the state parliament in which she dismissed criticism of the project as an attempt to pressure Berlin to buy “US fracking gas” and has since claimed “Putin betrayed us all”.
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“Putin’s puppet”… Manuela Schwesig is accused of “voting” with the Russian Nord Stream 2 AG (Image: Getty)
But the opposition CDU, Greens and FDP have set up a committee of inquiry to uncover the interests of the state government, NGOs and Russian supporters of the pipeline.
Construction of Nord Strem 2, which runs from western Siberia to Germany, was completed last September and if regulators had given the go-ahead for operation, it could have heated 26 million German homes at an affordable price given the capacity of the already existing existing combined heat and power plant would have been doubled -Nord Stream 1 pipeline in operation.
Washington had long described the pipeline as Moscow’s geopolitical weapon to undermine energy supplies and national security.
More than seven weeks into the war and nearly two months after Chancellor Olaf Scholz halted the divisive project, the leaked documents put White House suspicions back in the spotlight.
The receiving station in Germany for the aborted Nord Stream 2 project (Image: Getty)
The documents obtained through the broadsheet The worldreveal that Ms. Schwesig’s office acted as a “branch office of Gazprom” and that the charity set up by her government last year planned to hire “experienced staff” from Nord Stream 2.
Ms. Schwesig was named in the founding documents of this NGO, The world reported, and millions of euros for the organization, mainly from Gazprom, aimed to complete the pipeline and protect it from US sanctions.
The leaked documents suggest that Nord Stream 2 communications manager gave Mr. Schwesig direct instructions on the matter. They read: “We should try to position the foundation … as an ‘intelligent response’ to the US’s uncompromising behavior.”
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The manager also asked that “an employee of our agency” listen in on confidential conversations with journalists, to which the leaked documents record no objection, although Ms Schwesig’s representative denies that anyone was given access to confidential discussions.
Gerhard Schröder, who was German chancellor from 1998 to 005 and is also Gazprom director and CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, has also come under pressure after meeting Ms Schwesig on multiple occasions to discuss how US sanctions could be circumvented, Germans said newspaper The mirror claims.
National media coverage of the leaked documents comes amid signs that Mr Scholz’s CDU – Ms Schwesig’s party – could make Russian oil part of a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow.
The chairs of three German Bundestag committees last week urged the European Union to impose an embargo on Russian oil as soon as possible, saying it would hurt the country’s main source of income.
Mr Scholz said Germany could end Russian oil imports by the end of the year, while energy imports have already been significantly reduced.
Russian oil now accounts for 25 percent of German imports – up from 35 percent before the invasion began on February 24.
Michael Roth, chairman of Germany’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said a quick EU decision could be combined with a transitional phase such as the import ban on Russian coal, which comes into effect in mid-August after bloc ambassadors agreed on it last week.
Express.co.uk reached out to Ms Schwesig’s office for comment.
