A Polish court on Friday refused to extradite to Germany a Ukrainian suspect suspected of involvement in sabotaging Nord Stream gas pipelines.
The Warsaw District Court also ordered his immediate release. The decision may be subject to appeal.
“The Polish court has no evidence in this case, as the German side only sent very general information,” Poland’s PAP news agency quoted the judge as saying.
A series of underwater explosions damaged Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022, seven months after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.
What did the Polish government say about the suspect?
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Donald Tusk argued against handing over the suspect, identified as Volodymyr Z, suggesting it was not in Poland’s national interest.
“The problem with North Stream 2 is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built,” Tusk said in a post on X.
Poland has long been critical of the pipelines, arguing that they increase Germany’s dependence on Russian gas. This view was shared by the EU and other states on the eastern side of NATO, as well as Ukraine and the United States.
The extradition request presented a dilemma for the centrist and pro-EU prime minister, who has been accused of kowtowing to German interests by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) and the far-right Confederation party.
Piotr Skiba, a spokesman for Warsaw regional prosecutors, said it would be difficult not to extradite the suspect to Germany on legal grounds.
“It is very difficult to find any grounds on which we could not transfer him to the Germans,” he said Thursday.
Who was behind the Nord Stream explosions?
According to German media reports, the German prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe suspects a group of Ukrainians linked to Kiev’s secret service and military behind the suspected attack.
Prosecutors described Volodymyr Z as a trained driver. He was arrested at his apartment near Warsaw on Wednesday.
The man’s defense attorney, Timoteusz Paprocki, said before the verdict that his client planned to plead not guilty if brought to trial.
He questioned whether the destruction of Russian property by Ukrainians could be considered a criminal matter in light of Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.
Paprocki told Polish media that his team argued that Germany does not have independent courts as part of the defense.
In August, another Ukrainian national was arrested in Italy over alleged involvement in a sabotage campaign.
No group has claimed responsibility for the damage caused to the pipelines, and Ukraine has denied any involvement.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn