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Poland, Ukraine, Baltics were right about Russia: German MP

05.10.2022 12:15
A German lawmaker has said that Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states were right in their assessment of Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine, while Germany "has shown naïveté.”  
German lawmaker Alexander Lambsdorff (right) speaks during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum conference on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
German lawmaker Alexander Lambsdorff (right) speaks during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum conference on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Alexander Lambsdorff, a member of the German Bundestag lower house, made the statement at the Warsaw Security Forum conference on Tuesday, Poland's bizensalert.pl website reported. 

Speaking during a panel discussion entitled “Energetically (In)Secure Europe - Oil & Gas Trap,” Lambsdorff said Germany was “learning the lessons” from its energy policy of the past, which has resulted in its dependence on Russian supplies amid the war in Ukraine and an energy crisis, according to bizensalert.pl. 

The lawmaker, who represents Germany's liberal FDP party, stated: “Naïveté is coming to an end in Germany. The energy policy of old is coming to an end. Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states were right," as quoted by biznesalert.pl.

“We said coal was dirty and had to be ditched,” Lambsdorff told the conference. “We said nuclear energy was dangerous and so we wanted to scrap it, too.”

'Naïveté and dependence on Russia'

He said: “The result is naïveté and a big dependence on Russia,” as cited by biznesalert.pl. 

According to Lambsdorff, “nuclear energy has a future outside Germany,” while his country remains “averse” to the technology and will keep two of its three remaining nuclear power plants in operation until the end of the heating season, biznesalert.pl reported.

Germany to renounce Russian gas by 2027?

The German MP noted that Russia had halted gas supplies through its undersea Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany and now would not be able to restart them after last week’s mysterious leaks in the system, biznesalert.pl said.

Meanwhile, "one string of Nord Stream 2," the sister pipeline to Nord Stream 1, remains available, but Germany has declared it will renounce Russian deliveries by 2027, Lambsdorff said, as cited by biznesalert.pl.

Held annually since 2014, the Warsaw Security Forum brings together government officials, decision makers and experts from various countries to discuss security in Central Europe as well as international policy issues and transatlantic relations.

Wednesday is day 224 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: biznesalert.pl