- A total of three leaks have been discovered in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
- There is a lot to be said for sabotage, the German press agency learned from security circles.
- The operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline said it was unclear when the system would be operational again.
The Swedish shipping authority had previously reported two leaks on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. «There are two leaks at Nord Stream 1 – one in the Swedish Economic Zone and one in the Danish Economic Zone. They are very close together,” a spokesman for the agency told Reuters.
The leaks are northeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. A corresponding warning was issued by the authority. The cause of the leaks was not initially clear.
Is Russia behind it?
Poland does not rule out that a Russian provocation is behind the gas leaks. We are in a situation of high international tension, said Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz.
“Unfortunately, our eastern neighbor is constantly pursuing an aggressive policy. If he is capable of an aggressive military policy in Ukraine, it is obvious that no provocations can be ruled out, even in the sectors that are in Western Europe.”
Poland’s national conservative PiS government had spoken out against the construction of Nord Stream 2, which was completed in autumn 2021. She always warned that Russia could thereby increase Europe’s dependence on its gas supplies and put current transit countries under pressure.
Pressure drop since Monday
A pressure drop was detected in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines on Monday. Both twin tubes run from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Nord Stream 1 was commissioned in 2011. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions by the West, Russia initially reduced gas transport through Nord Stream 1 and stopped it completely a few weeks ago. Nord Stream 2 had been completed a year ago, but had never received an operating permit from Germany.
After the pressure drop in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the German Federal Network Agency stated that it did not expect any effects on the security of supply. “We are in the process of clarifying the situation here in exchange with the Federal Ministry of Economics and the authorities concerned. We currently do not know the causes of the pressure drop,” said a spokesman for the authority.