Poland Criticizes German-Russian Gas Deal

Plans by Russia and Germany to build a north European gas pipeline flout the idea of Europe adopting a common policy towards Moscow, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of new EU member Poland said on Wednesday. "From the point of view of a common European policy towards Russia, it is unfortunate that one of the EU member states, an important country, Germany, should make its own policy decisions, going over the heads of Poland and the EU," Kwasniewski said on Radio Zet, a Polish radio station. "This Russian-German project tends away from the concept of a common European policy," he added. Berlin and Moscow are expected to sign an agreement on the pipeline on Thursday when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Germany. The idea for a north European gas pipeline originated with Gazprom of Russia. The signature concerns about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) of pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany, as part of a total network which is to extend for 3,000 kilometers. Gazprom will build the pipeline with the German BASF company, and expects it to be operational in 2010. Poland and the Baltic states are critical of the pipeline project, saying they fear it could see them cut off from supplies of Russian gas.