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US-German agreement on NS2 ‘very bad’ for Poland – defence minister

Łukasz Gągulski/PAP

A US-German agreement on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is bad for Poland because it undermines regional security, the Polish defence minister said on Friday.

Mariusz Blaszczak told a Catholic radio broadcaster that the agreement struck between the administration of US President Joe Biden and the German Foreign Ministry, announced on Wednesday, would result in the completion of the gas pipeline to Western Europe without the imposition of further US sanctions.

The US had previously imposed penalties on firms connected to the pipeline’s construction but now that sanction has been removed by the agreement.

“It is a bad agreement, because it reduces security in our part of Europe… and especially targets Ukraine because it allows Russia to use turning off the gas tap as a kind of weapon,” said Blaszczak.

This is similar to what Russia did, for example, in 2009, he added, “when gas supplies to Ukraine were suspended in the winter.”

The minister added that the government was “not counting on compensation” for any problems or losses caused by the pipeline.

Poland, he continued, was taking care of its own security, adding that the Polish Army was “growing in numbers” and is being modernized with “state-of-the-art equipment.”

“This is the proper response,” he said.

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