Professor Sławomir Cenckiewicz, head of the National Security Bureau, said yesterday that “Poland should not take part in any operation to extradite a man who has harmed Russia.” He was referring to the case of Volodymyr Ż., who is suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline.
Volodymyr Ż. is wanted under a European arrest warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on suspicion of constitutional sabotage, destruction of property, and damage to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. He was detained on September 30 at his place of residence in Pruszków, near Warsaw. The court will decide whether he is to be extradited to Germany.
Cenckiewicz: Poland Should Not Extradite the Ukrainian to Germany
On Tuesday, Cenckiewicz was asked on Polsat News whether the suspect, Volodymyr Ż., should be handed over to Germany.
“Privately, I would say no. Officially, I will say this: Poland should not take part in any operation to extradite a person who has harmed Russia,” said Cenckiewicz.
He added that “we need to find a formula that keeps us within the bounds of the law, but at the same time does not hand over to the Germans, or potentially the Russians, someone who has harmed the Russian war machine.”
Three of the four Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which were intended to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, were destroyed on September 26, 2022, more than seven months after the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at a depth of about 80 meters on the floor of the Baltic Sea.