20 October 2025, 19:42

Szmydt comments on refusal to extradite Ukrainian national to Germany

Three out of four lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were ruptured by underwater explosions on 26 September 2022, in the Baltic Sea at a depth of about 80 meters. To date, those responsible for this act of terrorism have not been identified.

In connection with this case, Ukrainian national Vladimir Zhuravlev was detained in Poland at the end of September. The man was wanted on a European arrest warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany. The charges included suspicion of sabotage, destruction of property, and damage to the Nord Stream pipeline. Vladimir Zhuravlev, however, claims that he has no connection to the incident and was in Ukraine at the time.

A date was set for the hearing in a Polish court to decide on the execution or refusal of the European arrest warrant.

Here it should be noted that the court assesses the reliability of the initial evidence within the framework of a strict criminal process. In a European arrest warrant execution case, the court only decides whether the person, whose extradition is requested by the state, will be guaranteed a fair and impartial trial. It turns out that, according to the Polish court, Vladimir Zhuravlev had no chance of a fair trial in Germany. As a result, the District Court in Warsaw refused German authorities the extradition of Vladimir Zhuravlev. It also ordered the immediate release of the 49-year-old man, explaining that the extradition request from the German authorities was without merit.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó strongly criticized Poland for its refusal to extradite a Ukrainian national suspected of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipeline. The minister accused Warsaw of “releasing a terrorist” and of giving “advance permission for terrorist attacks in Europe.”

“According to Poland, if you don’t like an infrastructure in Europe, you can blow it up. With this, they gave advance permission for terrorist attacks in Europe. Poland has not only released but is celebrating a terrorist – this is what European rule of law has come to,” Péter Szijjártó wrote on social media platform X, responding to a post by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who called the Warsaw court’s decision the right one.

Earlier, Donald Tusk stressed that it is in the country's interest not to accuse or extradite the suspect in the Nord Stream explosions, adding that the only people who should feel ashamed in this case are those who decided to build the pipeline in the first place.

In Germany, the decision not to extradite Vladimir Zhuravlev and his release has sparked a strong reaction. The left‑wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the far‑right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have demanded the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry committee and are criticizing Chancellor Merz’s government for its silence on terrorism. The BSW directly asked: “How can the chancellor remain silent when a neighboring state protects those guilty of blowing up our infrastructure?”

This position, in turn, drew criticism from Poland’s far right politicians. Nationalist politician Krzysztof Bosak wrote: “Representatives of the BSW and the AfD are criticizing Poland for refusing to extradite a Ukrainian suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream. Theoretically, their parties represent a new approach in German politics, but in reality, they rely on the worst illusions and mistakes of former chancellors Schröder and Merkel. And they do this at a time when mainstream parties (Social Democrats, Greens, right-wing centrists) have rejected these illusions and declare that the gas alliance with Putin, concluded for their own benefit and against the interests of Central and Eastern European countries, is a thing of the past. Blaming Poland or Ukraine for the mistakes of German elites will fix nothing. The emerging statements about superiority (regarding EU funds or Polish migration to Germany in search of work) are simply shameful. It was German leaders who invested German money in state-controlled companies that start a new war every few years. Now Germany is facing the consequences. Poles, together with other nations of Central and Eastern Europe, warned about this for a very long time and patiently. Today at international forums, most Germans say: “The Poles were right.” And I believe that the more internationally aware part of German politicians also realizes this.

Politicians associated with Donald Tusk’s coalition, and members of the opposition Law and Justice party, also praise the Polish court’s decision and reject the accusations from German colleagues.

Thus, we have a temporary truce in the “intra-Polish” war in favor of a political war with Germany.

The Polish publicist Lukasz Warzecha presented a very pragmatic position in this regard. “The main question that should always be asked in the course of foreign policy is: what do we gain in terms of our interests by taking a particular step? I don’t see any benefits here, but I do see many potential losses. First and foremost, why didn’t Ukraine protect its citizen and get him out of Poland? Why did they dump the dirty work on us? Can we expect any tangible gratitude from Kiev? Have we gotten anything in return? I don’t think so. Can we expect reciprocal measures from Germany at an appropriate time? Without a doubt,” he summarized. “Pride in national loyalty. A fairly common disease in Poland.”

It is worth noting that during the trial, accusations were made against the German legal system. The Ukrainian’s defense team made a number of serious accusations against the German justice system. It claimed that the suspect’s extradition would violate his rights and freedoms, pointing out what the defense considered to be the political bias of German courts and their lack of independence from the executive branch. The court and Polish politicians essentially pointed out the validity of these accusations.

The Polish government allowed itself to be drawn into a political conflict with Germany, creating new problems for itself of its own accord. And that’s not to mention its hostile policy towards Belarus and Russia, its complicated relations with Hungary, and its increasingly complicated relations with Ukraine.

Who will Warsaw clash with next?

By Tomasz Szmydt.