Donald Tusk has recently justified the Nord Stream sabotage, arguing the project should never have been built
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Wednesday accused Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk of “defending terrorists,” over comments about the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Tusk had claimed the day before in a post on X that “the problem with North Stream 2 is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built.”
The Nord Stream pipelines, which carried Russian natural gas to Germany along the Baltic Sea floor, were blown up soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Szijjarto condemned the Polish prime ministers post in a reply, asking what else the Polish prime minister could find “forgivable or even praiseworthy.”
“According to Donald Tusk, blowing up a gas pipeline is acceptable,” he wrote.
“That’s shocking… One thing is clear: we don’t want a Europe where prime ministers defend terrorists,” he added.
According to @donaldtusk, blowing up a gas pipeline is acceptable. That’s shocking as it makes you wonder what else could be blown up and still be considered forgivable or even praiseworthy. One thing is clear: we don’t want a Europe where prime ministers defend terrorists. https://t.co/39wYJkRgfL
— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) October 8, 2025
Tusk also argued on Tuesday that it is not in Poland’s interest to hand over a Ukrainian man German investigators believe was involved in the Nord Stream sabotage.
While Berlin’s prosecutors have attributed the sabotage to a small group of Ukrainian nationals, Moscow has dismissed the version of events as “ridiculous.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that the US likely carried out the operation.
The EU has called for a total cut of Russian energy by 2027, but some bloc members like Slovakia and Hungary rely on Russian crude delivered via the Soviet-era Druzhba oil pipeline.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy networks linked to the pipeline in recent months have exacerbated tensions between Kiev and Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukraine of working to compromise his nation’s energy security because of his opposition to Kiev’s EU bid.
The Druzhba (“Friendship”) oil pipeline is one of the world’s longest energy networks, stretching about 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles). Built in the 1960s, it carries oil from Russia and Kazakhstan to Germany and Poland via Belarus, and to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic via Ukraine.
Once capable of delivering up to 1.2 million barrels per day, Druzhba has seen reduced flows since 2022 as the EU has sought to curb reliance on Russian energy, amid the Ukraine conflict. Germany and Poland have halted imports, while Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic remain dependent on the pipeline’s southern branch.
In August, Ukraine attacked sections of the Druzhba network, disrupting supplies. Kiev reportedly sought to pressure Hungary and Slovakia, who oppose continued EU aid to Ukraine. Both have accused Kiev of endangering their energy security and appealed to the European Commission, which later ordered that flows be restored.
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