Nord Stream Committee: Missing SMS Raises Questions About Schwesig‘s Testimony
Files submitted to the parliamentary investigative committee examining the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are incomplete, specifically regarding text messages sent to than-Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). An email from her then-Energy Minister Christian Pegel (also SPD) suggests an SMS concerning the EUGAL pipeline connection line was sent to Schwesig, but this message is absent from the committee’s records.
In a September 21, 2021 email, Pegel informed the government spokesman that he had relayed assessments of the EUGAL connection line to Schwesig via SMS. The investigative committee has found no record of this SMS – or any text messages sent or received by Schwesig - within the submitted files.
During her witness interview, Schwesig was confronted with the email. According to the email, after discussing the matter with the Federal Council regarding EUGAL – the pipeline leading to the Czech Republic – Pegel compiled details and sent it to “the person responsible there” for review, apparently intending to inform the Prime Minister of contentious points via text message.
Pegel’s email also states he was forwarding “this SMS” to the government spokesman as an email. However, Schwesig stated to the committee she had no knowledge of the SMS, neither confirming its receipt nor commenting on whether she deleted it. She asserted she had provided all relevant electronic messages to the committee, stating, “otherwise ‘no awareness of this.'” the SMS in question was reportedly sent in 2020, while the investigative committee was established in 2022.
The email from Christian Pegel to Schwesig is also missing from the submitted files. Pegel previously admitted during his own questioning before the committee that he routinely deletes emails.
Hannes Damm, chairman of the Greens in the parliamentary investigative committee, described Schwesig’s statements as “highly contradictory and simply unbelievable.” He called the absence of the potential text message ”especially explosive” and criticized Schwesig for dismissing the committee’s inquiries as ”conspiracy theories” and “indirectly even questions the legitimacy of the parliamentary committee.”
