In an alarming echo of the previous Nord Stream sabotage, Slovak authorities have expressed concerns about a possible attack on the Druzhba pipeline.
Slovakia’s Interior Minister, Matúš Šutaj Eštok revealed that security personnel apprehended two Ukrainian nationals accused of attempting to target the vital energy supply. The arrests occurred immediately before Polish police discovered a leak in another section of the same pipeline, raising concerns about coordinated operations to undermine Europe’s energy infrastructure.
The suspects in Slovakia were reportedly found with drones, maps of critical infrastructure, and multiple phones and SIM cards—tools that suggest thorough planning. Eštok compared the occurrence to the Nord Stream explosions, highlighting the vulnerability to European energy assets, despite the lack of conclusive evidence.
The Druzhba oil pipeline, which traverses Ukraine and supplies oil to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Germany, has long been a lifeline for European energy security. The Polish leak, discovered a day after the arrests in Slovakia, occurred on the pipeline’s branch to Germany. Luckily, it didn’t affect the main line. Had it been otherwise, Germany might have faced yet another major disruption in its energy supplies—this time, in the dead of winter.
While the Polish government is still investigating the cause, the timing raises eyebrows.
Polish officials have stated that they couldn’t rule out sabotage, the question is only whom they are going to accuse.
Back in 2022 (and since) Polish authorities hadn’t been really helpful to their German counterparts during the investigation of Nord Stream-sabotage. Though the attack, which destroyed the key undersea gas pipelines to Germany, didn’t remain unresolved in the end, but the identified Ukrainian saboteurs – unsurprisingly – weren’t arrested, despite an international arrest warrant being issued against them by Germany. One of them left Poland just after the warrant was issued. For a very long time, Poland accused Russia with the attack.
Thus, it probably wouldn’t come as surprise, if the Polish explanation would be the same (that is that it was Russia that planned to destroy its own connection with Europe again).
Slovakia’s Eštok avoided direct accusations against Ukraine but left the implications hanging in the air.
All this comes in the time when U.S. support for Ukraine has begun to show cracks.
Trump’s victory gave the U.S. a chance to step back.
While Biden’s administration tries to use these last weeks to strengthen Ukraine, even if there are some concerns that the aim is, in fact, to escalate the situation to a point where the incoming Trump administration has no other option but to continue the war – Trump promised peace negotiations.
In these times the European support might be more crucial to Ukraine than ever.
And what better way to remind Europe of its stake in the conflict than to jolt it with fresh threats to its energy infrastructure?
The mere suggestion that Ukrainians might be involved in such acts—whether rogue actors or otherwise—is a bitter irony for a continent that has poured billions into supporting Ukraine. Europe has provided military aid, financial assistance, and opened its borders to millions of Ukrainian refugees.
And yet, here we are, with drones and maps allegedly plotting to poke holes in Europe’s oil veins. “With friends like these…” some might be tempted to quip.
While the arrests in Slovakia and the leak in Poland might not be directly connected, they highlight a troubling trend: Europe’s energy networks are increasingly caught in the crossfire of geopolitical tensions.
Irrespective whether the alleged saboteurs acted independently or with tacit encouragement, the implications are unsettling.
Europe has been Ukraine’s supporter, bearing the brunt of economic and energy disruptions to aid Kyiv’s war effort. But incidents like these—whether coincidental or intentional—raise uncomfortable questions. How far can Europe’s goodwill stretch before the cracks begin to show?
For now, Slovakia’s intervention has averted what could have been a disaster. But it leaves Europe with pressing concerns: How secure are its critical infrastructures? And how should it navigate its delicate partnership with Ukraine in such volatile times?
As for the suspects in Slovakia, the jury—both literal and figurative—is still out.
But the irony is not lost on anyone: Ukraine, a nation reliant on European goodwill, should and could not be linked to such incidents, not even tangentially.
Whether orchestrated chaos or coincidence, one thing is clear: Europe’s “Friendship” pipelines are enduring anything but friendly times.
