Polish Prime Minister urged EU and Germany to Completely Stop Nord Stream 2

With Russia, violating international law both on its territory and in other countries, a constructive dialogue is impossible, wrote Mateusz Morawiecki to FAZ. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on Germany and the European Union to abandon the continuation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny’s poisoning. "You cannot wag your finger at Russia from afar and then get involved in the Nord Stream 2 project with Gazprom," Moravetsky wrote in a guest commentary posted on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung website on Sunday 13 September. According to Moravetsky, the only rational conclusion from the Navalny story may be "transferring the Nord Stream 2 project to the archive." The attempt to poison a leading member of the Russian opposition with a banned chemical two days before the planned talks on EU-Russia relations, which were to be held in Berlin, is "a challenge for the entire democratic community of Europe," the Polish prime minister further emphasizes. Morawiecki on the impossibility of a constructive dialogue with Russia. In addition, the pipeline makes Europe dependent on Russian gas supplies, he is sure. But the most dangerous thing is that Russia, under the guise of economic cooperation, will have an influence on the actions of Germany - one of the most important partners in the economic and political sense within the EU and NATO, warns Morawiecki. In his opinion, it is not enough just to take into account that Russia does not recognize democracy and freedom of speech in the Western sense. It is impossible to conduct a constructive dialogue with a state that violates international standards and international legislation not only at home, but also on the territory of the EU and NATO members, Morawiecki is sure. Navalny’s poisoning and the Nord Stream 2 There is a discussion in Germany about a possible all-European response and the EU introducing sanctions against Russia because of Alexei Navalny’s poisoning. German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not rule out that they may touch upon the construction of the Nord Stream 2. Earlier, construction continuation of the gas pipeline was questioned by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, German Health Minister Jens Spahn also linked the future of Nord Stream 2 with Russia's position in the investigation of Navalny's poisoning. Work on laying pipes along the bottom of the Baltic Sea was suspended at the end of 2019 due to US sanctions, fearing an increase in Europe's dependence on gas supplies from the Russian Federation. FBK (Found of Fighting against Corruption) founder Alexei Navalny fell ill on August 20 on board a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The liner made an emergency landing in Omsk, where the politician was hospitalized. On August 22, at the request of Navalny's relatives, he was taken for treatment to Germany, to the Berlin clinic "Charite". The politician was in a coma for 19 days. On September 2, the official representative of the German government, Steffen Seibert, and then the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made statements that Alexei Navalny had been poisoned with a military nerve agent from the Novichok group. "A special laboratory of the Bundeswehr presented a clear result: Alexei Navalny was the victim of an assassination attempt with a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok family," Merkel said. Moscow denies all charges of involvement in the assassination attempt on Alexei Navalny.