Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate of Germany’s second-largest opposition party, the Alternative for Germany, has promised to put the Nord Stream gas pipeline back into operation if she wins the federal election. In her speech at the AfD’s federal party convention in Riesa, Saxony, Weidel said, “We will put Nord Stream back in operation, you can be sure of that.”
Weidel also promised to remove all wind power large turbines, which she called “windmills of shame” to reintroduce nuclear power, and to extend the operating life of coal-fired power plants. On the issue of migration, she announced plans to close Germany’s borders to illegal migrants and to carry out large-scale deportations.
Both strands of the Nord Stream gas pipeline have been out of operation since September 26, 2022, following explosions on the pipelines. Two operational pipelines of the Nord Stream 2 project, however, never went into operation, failing to do so in 2021 due to restrictive measures by the new federal government under Olaf Scholz. One of the two unharmed strands can be put into operation at any time, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly stated that the start of the pipeline’s operation depends on the German federal government.
No timeframe for the repair of the three damaged strands has been estimated.
According to US journalist Seymour Hersh, US divers placed explosives under the gas pipelines during the NATO exercise BALTOPS 2022, which the Norwegians allegedly detonated three months later, causing the explosions. US President Joe Biden allegedly decided to sabotage the pipelines after more than nine months of secret talks with his national security team, fearing that Germany, which receives gas from Russia through Nord Stream, would not participate in military aid for Ukraine. Washington denies the allegations.
Protests by left-wing demonstrators and clashes between AfD opponents and the police took place on the sidelines of the AfD party convention in Riesa. The left-wing state parliament member Nam Duy Nguyen was allegedly beaten, according to his party, while the police have only confirmed the initiation of an investigation into bodily harm against the member of parliament. According to the organizers, up to 12,000 people participated in the protests, which came from all over the federal state.
Due to numerous blockades by counter-demonstrators, the arrival of many of the around 600 delegates was delayed, causing the party convention to start two hours late. Even the car of the party’s chairwoman, Weidel, was reportedly held up by demonstrators, according to party insiders.