Polish court refuses extradition of Ukrainian suspect to Germany in Nord Stream case
Editor's note: This item has been updated with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's statement.
A Polish court on Oct. 16 refused to extradite Ukrainian national Volodymyr Z. to Germany, where he is accused of involvement in sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Polish broadcaster TVP reported.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the suspect was released from custody.
"And rightly so. The case is closed," the prime minister added.
The ruling comes amid tensions over the unsolved Nord Stream explosions, which destroyed key pipelines linking Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea and triggered international accusations.
The 46-year-old suspect was detained in September in east-central Poland.
German authorities accuse him of helping to place explosives on the pipelines as part of a covert operation conducted from a rented sailing yacht that departed from the port of Rostock. The vessel was reportedly acquired through intermediaries using forged German documents.
Poland's refusal follows a similar move by Italy's Supreme Court, which on Oct. 15 overturned the extradition of another Ukrainian national, Serhii Kuznetsov, wanted by Germany on related charges.
Tusk earlier commented on the matter, saying those who built the Nord Stream 2 pipeline "should be ashamed and remain silent," not those accused of sabotaging it.
Tusk said extraditing the suspect would be "against Poland's interests," and he shared Poland's stance with former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Volodymyr Zelensky "many months ago."
Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar said on Oct. 7 that Kyiv is not interfering in the extradition proceedings. German investigators previously linked the sabotage to a pro-Ukraine group but did not allege direct involvement by the Ukrainian government.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never became operational, had long been a flashpoint in European energy politics. Even before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, critics said it deepened Germany's dependence on Russian gas and undermined European energy security.
In 2021, Nord Stream 1 supplied over one-third of Russia's gas exports to Europe. Czech President Petr Pavel later said the pipelines were a "legitimate target" if Kyiv had indeed been behind the attack.
