(Bloomberg) -- Poland said it’s trying to step up pressure on neighboring Germany to halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline following the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
For Germany the decision should be a “no brainer” to pull out of the project, which was political and destabilizing for eastern Europe, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview on Monday.
Hours earlier, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman indicated that she was rethinking her sustained support for the controversial Baltic Sea pipeline.
“With the recent developments in Belarus, where Mr. Putin is clearly threatening with intervention, and what he did with Mr. Navalny, this should be a final wake up call for Germany,” Morawiecki told Bloomberg Television. Russia should be condemned and “there should be very strong sanctions and interventions following suit.”
Tensions between Moscow and Berlin escalated after German military specialists determined last week that Navalny had been poisoned by Novichok, a Russian military-developed nerve agent.
Why the World Frets Over Russian Nord Stream Pipeline: QuickTake
Morawiecki, a long-time opponent of the gas link, has called President Vladimir Putin’s government a “hostile regime” for infringing on the sovereignty of neighboring states and the treatment of dissidents.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
