Ukrainian suspected of Nord Stream attack. FVD’s MP Pepijn Van Houwelingen asks defence minister parliamentary questions

The original article was published on fvd.nl on 15 August.

It has recently been announced that Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines in 2022. It was initially suggested that Russia had sabotaged the gas pipelines, despite the fact that Moscow could simply turn off the gas tap, without destroying its own billion-dollar project. Now it appears to have been a Ukrainian operation, carried out with President Zelensky's approval.

The current Dutch defence minister, Ruben Brekelmans, also initially claimed Putin was behind the sabotage. Now that it is becoming clear that the perpetrator is probably an (apparent) ally of the Netherlands, Forum for Democracy wants clarification on the geopolitical situation that has arisen. Therefore, FVD MP Pepijn van Houwelingen is submitting parliamentary questions.

Van Houwelingen's questions to minister Brekelmans can be read below.

1) Is it correct that Minister Brekelmans in September 2022 (in his capacity as a member of parliament) claimed the following in response to the attack on Nord Stream: ‘But I think the reaction now is mainly that we should not be intimidated by this action by Russia, and make it clear that this is not acceptable for Europe.’?

2) Does Minister Brekelmans still believe that Russia blew up Nord Stream? If so, why?

3) Is Minister Brekelmans still)of the opinion that blowing up Nord Stream is not acceptable to Europe? If no, why not?

4) Does the minister agree or disagree with this Tweet sent by Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 27 September 2022: ‘Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable & will lead to the strongest possible response.’?

5) Does the Netherlands government consider that blowing up vital infrastructure by a state actor is an ‘act of aggression’ towards the Netherlands? If not, why not?

6) Is the attack (by a state actor) on Nord Stream considered by the Dutch government as ‘an act of aggression’? If no, why not?

7) As far as the minister is concerned, does it make sense to provide military and other support to countries involved in attacks on infrastructure vital to the Netherlands?

8) When did the Dutch intelligence services (and thus the government) know about Ukraine's involvement in the Nord Stream attack?

9) Or does the government still deny Ukraine's involvement in this attack?

10) Why was information about Ukraine's involvement in the Nord Stream attack not shared with the House of Representatives?

11) What does Ukraine's involvement in the Nord Stream attack mean for the (military) support Ukraine receives from the Netherlands?

12) Does Ukraine have the (military) capacity to carry out an attack on Nord Stream without support from other countries?

13) Was Prime Minister Rutte (or any other member of the government or the Dutch intelligence services) aware in advance of the attack on Nord Stream?

14) Can the minister answer these questions separately and within three weeks?