A regional leader in Germany colluded with Gazprom, Russia’s state-backed energy company, to promote the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline before it was cancelled, leaked documents show.
Manuela Schwesig, chief minister of the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is the latest member of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) to come under pressure over her links to the Kremlin-backed project. Critics have described her as “Putin’s puppet”.
Schwesig, 47, is accused of setting up an environmental foundation that was secretly designed to lobby for the Russian-backed gas pipeline, deflect it from criticism and circumvent US sanctions.
Hundreds of emails and documents released under the Environment Information Law show the state leader collaborated so closely with Nord Stream 2 AG, the company behind the project, that revisions to her public statements were suggested. The company even asked to eavesdrop on “off the record” briefings to journalists.
The documents suggest that Schwesig was involved in hiring decisions for Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Gazprom and headed by Matthias Warnig, 66, a former Stasi member who befriended and worked with Vladimir Putin in the 1980s when he was a KGB officer stationed in Dresden.
Schwesig was regarded as a rising star in the SPD. She has since apologised for her support of the pipeline.
Norbert Röttgen, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for Schwesig to resign for “colluding with a Russian company and deliberately misleading the public”.
The broadsheet Die Welt said Schwesig’s office was acting as “a branch of Gazprom”. The documents obtained by the newspaper reveal a plan to hire “experienced employees” of Nord Stream 2 at the Environmental and Climate Protection Foundation set up by Schwesig’s administration last year. Schwesig was named on the founding documents of the foundation. Millions of euros for the NGO, mostly from Gazprom, were aimed at completing the pipeline and protecting it from US sanctions, Die Welt reported.
The leaked documents suggested that the Nord Stream 2 communications manager was also directing Schwesig, telling her: “We should try to position the foundation . . . as a ‘smart answer’ to US hard-line behaviour.”
Schwesig gave a speech in the state parliament dismissing criticism of the project as an attempt to pressure Germany into buying “US fracking-gas”.
The opposition CDU, Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP) have set up a committee of inquiry to untangle the interests of the state government, the foundation and the Russian backers of Nord Stream 2.
Documents revealed in the state chancellery in the capital city, Schwerin, show how close the cooperation was. The Nord Stream 2 communications manager asked that “an employee of our agency” listen in to off-the-record conversations with journalists. No objection is noted in the documents, though Schwesig’s representative denies that anyone listened to sensitive discussions.
In an email dated November 23 2020, referring to official statements, the head of the state chancellery reported on a meeting with Nord Stream 2 members. “They had three changes on their minds, which I’ve included.”
Gerhard Schröder, the former chancellor who is also a Gazprom director and chairman of Nord Stream 2 AG, has also been criticised. He met Schwesig many times to discuss how US sanctions could be avoided, Der Spiegel reported.
Germany’s friendliness with Putin’s Russia is now seen as a grievous error. Schwesig has since claimed that “Putin deceived us all”. Her office could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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A regional leader in Germany colluded with Gazprom, Russia’s state-backed energy company, to promote the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline before it was cancelled, leaked documents show.
Manuela Schwesig, chief minister of the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, is the latest member of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) to come under pressure over her links to the Kremlin-backed project. Critics have described her as “Putin’s puppet”.
Schwesig, 47, is accused of setting up an environmental foundation that was secretly designed to lobby for the Russian-backed gas pipeline, deflect it from criticism and circumvent US sanctions.
Hundreds of emails and documents released under the Environment Information Law show the state leader collaborated so closely with Nord Stream 2 AG, the company behind the project, that revisions to her public statements were suggested. The company even asked to eavesdrop on “off the record” briefings to journalists.
The documents suggest that Schwesig was involved in hiring decisions for Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Gazprom and headed by Matthias Warnig, 66, a former Stasi member who befriended and worked with Vladimir Putin in the 1980s when he was a KGB officer stationed in Dresden.
Schwesig was regarded as a rising star in the SPD. She has since apologised for her support of the pipeline.
Norbert Röttgen, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for Schwesig to resign for “colluding with a Russian company and deliberately misleading the public”.
The broadsheet Die Welt said Schwesig’s office was acting as “a branch of Gazprom”. The documents obtained by the newspaper reveal a plan to hire “experienced employees” of Nord Stream 2 at the Environmental and Climate Protection Foundation set up by Schwesig’s administration last year. Schwesig was named on the founding documents of the foundation. Millions of euros for the NGO, mostly from Gazprom, were aimed at completing the pipeline and protecting it from US sanctions, Die Welt reported.
The leaked documents suggested that the Nord Stream 2 communications manager was also directing Schwesig, telling her: “We should try to position the foundation . . . as a ‘smart answer’ to US hard-line behaviour.”
Schwesig gave a speech in the state parliament dismissing criticism of the project as an attempt to pressure Germany into buying “US fracking-gas”.
The opposition CDU, Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP) have set up a committee of inquiry to untangle the interests of the state government, the foundation and the Russian backers of Nord Stream 2.
Documents revealed in the state chancellery in the capital city, Schwerin, show how close the cooperation was. The Nord Stream 2 communications manager asked that “an employee of our agency” listen in to off-the-record conversations with journalists. No objection is noted in the documents, though Schwesig’s representative denies that anyone listened to sensitive discussions.
In an email dated November 23 2020, referring to official statements, the head of the state chancellery reported on a meeting with Nord Stream 2 members. “They had three changes on their minds, which I’ve included.”
Gerhard Schröder, the former chancellor who is also a Gazprom director and chairman of Nord Stream 2 AG, has also been criticised. He met Schwesig many times to discuss how US sanctions could be avoided, Der Spiegel reported.
Germany’s friendliness with Putin’s Russia is now seen as a grievous error. Schwesig has since claimed that “Putin deceived us all”. Her office could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Obviously