Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate for chancellor Alice Weidel said the AfD wants to restore the Nord Stream gas pipeline. "We will get Nord Stream back in operation," NTV quoted Weidel as saying.
Alice Weidel made the statement at the AfD's federal congress in Riesa, Saxony. At the same congress, Alice Weidel stressed that the AfD wants to "dismantle all windmills" and restore nuclear power plants. The party also called for the expansion of coal power plants in Germany.
About 55% of Germany's natural gas supplies came from Russia before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022. Most of this gas is transported via the Nord Stream pipeline.
The decision to stop importing energy from Russia, combined with the green policies of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, has led to soaring electricity prices in Germany, forcing some of the country's major manufacturing groups - including Volkswagen and BASF - to close factories and lay off workers.
The AfD is not the only German party that wants Nord Stream repaired and reopened. The left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) coalition also wants the pipelines to be restored. Last week, BSW MP Sevim Dagdelen called for the pipelines to be restored and for the German government to stop funding Ukraine.
Germans will go to the polls to elect a new government on February 23. AFP reported that the AfD is in second place in the polls for next month's general election, with an average of 20%. The conservative CDU/CSU is leading with 31% while Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats are vying for third place with their coalition partners the Green Party, with 15% and 14% respectively.
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were built by Russia's Gazprom to transport 110 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany and other European countries each year. However, Nord Stream 2 never came into operation because Germany refused to certify the pipeline for operation just days before Russia's campaign in Ukraine began in February 2022. Meanwhile, the Nord Stream pipeline was shut down by Gazprom in the summer of 2022.
Three of the four branches of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline systems exploded on September 26, 2022. Investigations into the Nord Stream sabotage have so far failed to find the culprit. In early 2024, Denmark and Sweden announced that they had completed their investigation into the Nord Stream explosion. International media reported that a Ukrainian private sabotage group was suspected of being behind the explosion.
