Germany's AfD Calls for Creation of Commission to Investigate Nord Stream Attack

BERLIN (Sputnik) - The parliamentary faction of the German opposition right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has requested the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate the explosions on Nord Stream gas pipelines, party co-chairman Tino Chrupalla said on Thursday.

"It is necessary to continue asking the questions about what the government knows [about the attacks on Nord Streams] and why European partners are not working with Germany in this area," Chrupalla said in parliament.

"The AfD faction yesterday here, in the Bundestag, requested the creation of a parliamentary committee of inquiry to get answers to these questions."

Chrupalla noted that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Thursday's government statement on the upcoming meeting of the European Council did not address the issue of Nord Streams.

"Citizens and parliamentarians of this country have been waiting for months for answers from the federal government," Chrupalla added.

In addition, the politician urged the government to explain how it wants to protect critical infrastructure in Germany.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, have been out of action since they were hit by explosions last September. Nord Stream's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.

Russia considers the explosions of the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February saying US Navy divers during NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022 planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines which Norway activated three months later.

The report added that US President Joe Biden had decided to sabotage the Nord Streams after more than nine months of secret discussions with his national security team. Later, a number of Western media outlets reported that a pro-Ukrainian group could have been responsible for blowing up the pipelines.