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In the case of Navalny, Foreign Minister Maas again asked Russia for an explanation. The Greens are calling for the construction of the joint Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to stop. In this context, criticism of former Chancellor Schröder is mounting.
Federal Chancellor Heiko Maas is increasing the pressure on Russia in the Alexej Navalny case. In the next few days he asked Moscow to help clarify the poisoning of the Kremlin critic. If there are none, Germany should consult with its partners on an answer, Maas told “Bild am Sonntag.”
There are many indications that the Russian state is behind the poison attack. “If the Russian side does not participate in the investigation of the crime committed against Mr. Navalny, that would be another indication of the state’s involvement. If it does not go beyond covering up and smoking candles, we must assume that Russia has something to hide.”
The federal government has yet to rock Nord Stream 2
On Wednesday, the federal government announced that Navalny had been poisoned with a chemical from the so-called Novitschok group. Navalny collapsed on August 20 on a flight within Russia and is now being treated at the Berlin Charite. Russia has rejected participation in a poison attack on Navalny, as well as attacks on other opposition figures.
The Navalny attack sparked a debate in Germany about the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas project. So far, the federal government has stuck with the project and does not want to link the Navalny case to the completion of Nord Stream 2. “In any case In any case, I don’t expect the Russians to force us to change our stance on Nord Stream 2, “Maas said.
The construction freeze would affect many German companies
Maas also emphasized that stopping the nearly completed pipeline would also hurt German and European companies: “Anyone demanding this should be aware of the consequences. Nord Stream 2 has more than 100 companies from twelve European countries involved, about half even from Germany. “. Narrowing the debate down to Nord Stream 2 alone would not do the case justice. “When we think of sanctions, they should work as precisely as possible,” Maas continued.
Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt, on the other hand, calls for the gas pipeline project to be stopped immediately. Furthermore, the federal government must now hermetically show how the project can be finished, Göring-Eckardt told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday edition).
Schröders on the Board of Directors of Nord Stream 2
If the project continues, Germany “will make common cause with a regime that does not shy away from using prohibited means of mass destruction to poison people, in its own country as Navalny, but also in the center of the EU, as the Skripal case. “. In addition, the green politician asked former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) to leave his job for the Russian state company Gazprom. “Former SPD Chancellor Schröder must now decide whether he is on the side of democracy and human rights,” Goering-Eckardt said.
The Union MP, Johann Wadephul, also called on Schröder to “immediately leave his offices and posts in Russia.” Even if Moscow denies responsibility, a former federal chancellor should “ignore it politically or morally,” “the CDU politician told the Berlin” Tagesspiegel “(Sunday).
Schröder is chairman of the board of directors of Nord Stream 2 AG, in which the Russian energy company Gazprom is formally the sole shareholder. Critics accuse him of pressuring the Kremlin into office.
