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So far, the Russian government has rejected all the accusations. But what if the already impressive signs continue to grow that opposition politician Alexei Navalny was poisoned at the behest or at least with the approval of Moscow? In Berlin, where Navalny is currently being treated, the frustration is great.
Calls for dire consequences for Vladimir Putin’s government have long been mounting. Above all, it is about the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. The construction of the pipeline through which Russian natural gas will be delivered to Germany must be stopped, Putin’s critics are now calling out vehemently. Others refuse.
A dispute has broken out on this issue, especially within the FDP.
On Thursday morning, both FDP vice president Wolfgang Kubicki and his party president Christian Lindner commented on the matter, and they had quite different tones. “I am skeptical that we should question a project of this size at the current stage of our findings,” Kubicki, who is also vice president of the Bundestag, said of Deutschlandfunk. Depending on the development, the construction could not be completed. But he does not want to believe that “Vladimir Putin or the government in general are behind this attack.”
Party leader Lindner in turn said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”: “A regime that organizes poisonous assassinations is not a partner for large cooperation projects, not even for oil pipeline projects.” The differences between the two policies in Russia had already arisen in the past. Kubicki had campaigned in vain for a gradual dismantling of Russia’s sanctions around 2018.
Lindner wants a moratorium on pipeline construction
In the afternoon, Lindner declared on the sidelines of a meeting of the FDP parliamentary group that his party “was not in favor of a fundamental end or an immediate stop” for Northstream 2. There must be a moratorium until the events around Navalny and there is also a willingness to cooperate The Kremlin admitted “visibly participating in the investigation of this crime.”
The deputy of the FDP parliamentary group and foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff stated that it was fine that the federal government in the European Union and NATO were addressing the Navalny case, but that was not enough. “We are of the opinion that organizations such as the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, but also the United Nations must be dealt with,” said the FDP politician. Lambsdorff added that the FDP had passed a resolution asking the federal government, “dissidents, members of the democratic opposition who are in danger of death in Russia and who are exposed to political persecution”, to be granted asylum in Germany if they request it.
The youth organization Junge Liberale (Julis) harshly criticized Kubicki for his latest statements. A message from newly elected July boss Jens Teutrine is titled “Kubicki is wrong.” “The attack on Alexei Navalny is also an attack on democracy and freedom. We must not depend on an authoritarian Russia for energy policy,” Teutrine explains. “The construction of Nord Stream 2 must be stopped immediately. Therefore, we support Christian Lindner’s positioning.” This should represent the entire period of flight activity publicly without exception. “Liberals are not allowed to continue defending the Kremlin.”
Lindner rejected the impression of a dispute in his match over Nord Stream 2 to SPIEGEL. He referred to a unanimous decision by the FDP parliamentary group on Thursday on the Navalny case, which, among other things, called for a moratorium on the construction of the pipeline.
