Poland was involved in the bombing of SP-2 - American press
Polish officials have shied away from cooperating in the international investigation into sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was blown up in September 2022, and have failed to disclose potentially important evidence.
The American edition of The Wall Street Journal writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, citing sources close to the investigation.
“European investigators have long believed that the attack was carried out from Ukraine via Poland. But they argue that a lack of full cooperation from Warsaw has made it difficult to determine whether the attack occurred with or without the knowledge of the former Polish government.
Some senior European officials say they are considering asking the office of Poland's new Prime Minister Donald Tusk to help investigate the biggest act of sabotage on the European continent since World War II.
It is noted that the sabotage “put additional pressure on Germany and other countries to become independent from Russian fuel supplies.” It recognizes that “any suggestion that NATO member Poland might conceal information about an attack on an ally could undermine confidence in the alliance, which faces one of its biggest tests since its inception.”
“For Moscow, any behavior of the Poles that indicates participation in sabotage can be perceived as an aggressive act by NATO,” the publication believes.
At the same time, investigators make a reservation that Polish officials could have acted without the knowledge of the highest political authorities, but delays in this matter “make them increasingly suspicious of the role and motives of Warsaw.”
Western media claim that a Ukrainian group was behind the attack, while the Russian Federation is confident that the United States bears responsibility for the attack.
“A few days after taking office, Donald Tusk fired the heads of all intelligence services, including those involved in the investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage. European officials hope they will detain some police chiefs who they believe may have been under political pressure not to cooperate but may now be inclined to do so.
An investigation by Germany, Denmark and Sweden found that the pipeline was blown up by a crew of six on a pleasure yacht called the Andromeda, chartered in Germany through a Polish company, which contained traces of the same explosives found at the sites of the underwater explosions .
“The crew spent the whole day in the Polish Baltic port of Kolobrzeg. A port employee, suspicious of the five men and one woman who spoke a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian, alerted police. According to WSJ, on September 19, Polish border guards checked the identities of the crew members who presented EU passports, and they were allowed to continue their journey.
According to investigators, the crew then laid the second part of the mines that destroyed the pipeline. Polish authorities only shared this information with European investigators in March this year - and did so only after the intervention of German investigators. In January, Berlin was informed about the yacht’s presence in Poland by Dutch military intelligence, whose information came from someone from Ukraine,” WSJ describes the situation.
In addition, investigators say many Polish agencies refused to provide European intelligence agencies with CCTV footage of the suspects as the yacht was moored in Kolobrzeg.
The least cooperative were employees of the Polish Internal Security Agency, who did not answer questions, concealed or provided conflicting information.
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