Marko Martin claims Frank-Walter Steinmeier physically assaulted him after he criticized his support for the gas pipelines
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier allegedly assaulted writer Marko Martin over his criticism of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Bild has reported. The outlet said the incident occurred after Martin called out the veteran politician for approving the projects during his time as foreign minister.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were built under the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany. Both were destroyed by underwater explosions in September 2022.
Prior to the blasts, senior US officials, including President Joe Biden, had repeatedly criticized the project.
In its article on Friday, Bild quoted Martin as recounting how he had been invited to deliver a speech at an event commemorating the democratic revolution in Poland at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. The writer reportedly levelled scathing criticisms at former and current high-ranking officials of the Social Democratic Party, including Steinmeier.
According to the outlet, Martin slammed them for fostering closer ties to Russia prior to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
Addressing the president, Martin reportedly argued that the German government’s participation in Nord Stream might have emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch his military campaign against Ukraine.
The tabloid cited eyewitnesses as saying that Steinmeier grew visibly angry listening to Martin’s speech and had trouble controlling his emotions.
The writer told Bild that the “president furiously rushed at me… [and] repeatedly accused me of defaming him.” According to the article, Steinmeier eventually lost his composure and hit Martin on the head, supposedly charging that he and other “intellectuals” had no clue how difficult a politician’s job is.
A spokesperson for the German president confirmed to the outlet that the “contentious” conversation had taken place, but said it had been “businesslike.”
The Wall Street Journal, followed by several other US and German outlets, claimed that a six-strong crew of Ukrainian divers on a small yacht had planted the explosive devices that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines.
Russia has dismissed that version as implausible, with President Putin arguing that the blasts were executed by professionals supported by “the full might of the state,” and that the US was “probably” behind it.
In September, Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service also pointed the finger at the US and UK, accusing them of “promoting the narrative [in the media] that the attack was conducted exclusively by Ukrainian extremists.”
