Resolution dated June 15, 2021
Poland’s Sejm, in its resolution, calls upon the EU and NATO states, in particular Germany, to take urgent measures to stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline out of solidarity with Ukraine and other countries threatened by Russian expansionist policy.
On calling upon the governments of the European Union and NATO states, including, in particular, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, to take urgent measures to halt the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The Sejm of the Republic of Poland, with a sense of solidarity with our Central European neighbors threatened by Russian expansionism, including, in particular, with Ukraine, calls upon the European Union and its Member States, including, in particular, the Federal Republic of Germany as our NATO ally and European Union partner, to withdraw any support for implementing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and to take steps to immediately and effectively stopped its construction. We appeal for this in the name of respect for the values on which the European Union is based, in the name of solidarity with Ukraine and of care for stability and security in Europe, as well as for increasing the Union’s resilience to pressure from Russia. We also call upon the United States of America as our NATO ally, to maintain and extend sanctions against the entities participating in the construction of the pipeline. Any further political and economic pressure from the US may contribute to the discontinuation of this harmful project and to strengthening cooperation among the North Atlantic Alliance Member States on issues that are essential to their security.
For 30 years, the European Union and NATO have been making numerous efforts to shape relations with Russia. All of them have been treated by Russia as preparation of the ground for its imperialist expansion, and the underpinning principles of international law have been brutally crushed by it in the acts of armed aggression against Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine since 2014, the effects of which, in the form of illegal occupation of parts of their territories, as well as the illegal secession of Transnistria detached from Moldova, are continued.
The export of hydrocarbons is a source of financing for Russian armaments and as such is an important instrument of Russia’s aggressive policy, not only against its neighboring countries but also other European Union Member States. Nord Stream 2 is aimed exclusively at changing supply routes rather than diversifying them. The existing transmission capacity of natural gas from the eastern direction is, in fact, sufficient to ensure its necessary supplies to Europe. The project also violates antitrust rules of the Third energy package by combining the ownership of gas fields and distribution networks, which is in contradiction with the European Union law.
This spring, the Russian Federation was putting massive military pressure on Ukraine, by threatening it with an outbreak of a serious armed conflict at the borders of Poland and the European Union. Nord Stream 2, by allowing Russia to quit gas transit across the territory of Ukraine to its major customers, including the Federal Republic of Germany, will open the way for Russia to conduct large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine, without the risk of incurring the cost of interrupting this transit due to military operations.
We know about many cases of assassination of political opponents and acts of terrorism carried out by the Russian Federation’s state services in the territory of the European Union Member States, including blowing up of Ammunition depots in Vrbetice in the Czech Republic and in six locations in Bulgaria. The life of the leader of the Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, who has been illegally imprisoned in a penal colony, is also at risk. Moreover, Russia supports the oppressive regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka, who usurps the right to rule Belarus against the will of the majority of its citizens expressed during the elections held on August 9th, 2020.
We believe that the acceptance for the continuation of the North Stream 2 project in the above-mentioned circumstances is consent for pursuing by the Russian Federation a policy based on violating international standards and human rights, infringing the integrity of neighboring states, and putting pressure on the European Union and the NATO States.
