AfD co‑chair Tino Chrupalla, speaking at a Berlin press conference on 15 April 2024, called for an international probe into the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines that crippled three of the four strings on 26 September 2022. He insisted the investigation must span national, European and global levels, and that those responsible be held accountable—an echo of the party’s earlier push for a parliamentary inquiry.
—Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, on X, welcomed Chrupalla’s stance, saying Moscow would work with Berlin to reopen the pipelines. The envoy’s remarks came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and German counterpart Johann Wadephul met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, their first encounter since before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Lavrov said the meeting yielded no new positions, while Wadephul reiterated Germany’s firm opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine and urged Moscow to abandon what he called a dangerous escalation that threatens Germany, Europe and NATO. He also warned that incidents such as the alleged drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport would not weaken Berlin’s support for Ukraine.
In the weeks that followed, Berlin closed a Russian consulate and cultural centre after accusing Moscow of a drone attack, while the Russian embassy condemned the allegations as a fabricated provocation. The AfD’s call for a probe therefore sits at the intersection of domestic politics and a broader geopolitical standoff over energy security.
The party’s demand has added pressure on German officials to clarify their stance on the pipelines and may prompt an official review of the sabotage investigations, potentially opening a path for Russia and Germany to negotiate a joint reopening plan.