Too high a level of secrecy
Nord Stream leaks: Sweden prefers to investigate solo
10/14/2022 5:59 p.m
Who triggered the explosions at the bottom of the Baltic Sea that severely damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines? Various investigative authorities are currently investigating this question. Sweden has now announced that the results of its own investigations remain confidential.
According to media reports, Sweden, Denmark and Germany will not form a joint investigation group to investigate the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines, contrary to what was planned. Sweden has rejected the establishment of an international investigation team, reported the “Spiegel”. According to information from security circles, Sweden justified the refusal by saying that the level of secrecy of its investigation results was too high to share them with other countries.
According to ARD, Denmark also said goodbye to the group. Now each country is investigating for itself. As the “Spiegel” further reported, the German authorities still hope to continue working with the Swedish authorities.
Four leaks were discovered in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany off the Danish island of Bornholm at the end of September, some in Danish and some in Swedish waters. According to an official Danish-Swedish report, the leaks were caused by explosions with enormous explosive power.
In the meantime, no escaping gas can be seen on the water surface. During overflights on Thursday and Friday, the gas leak in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone was no longer visible, the Swedish coast guard said. After a previous observation, she last spoke on Wednesday that the remaining outlet from Nord Stream 2 would still affect an area around ten meters wide. Danish authorities had already announced at the beginning of the month that no more gas was leaking at the two points within their economic zone.
Photos show leak eight meters long
According to a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Police have now ended their reconnaissance mission at sea. The mine hunting boat “Dillingen” and the multi-purpose boat “Mittelgrund” had returned after their administrative assistance, the Navy said. Security authorities and spokesmen for government agencies in Berlin have not yet said anything about possible initial results of investigations. The information collected would now flow into the investigations conducted by the Attorney General.
According to ARD, an underwater drone was used to take photos that show the extent of the destruction. A leak eight meters long can be seen on them, which could only be the result of an explosives explosion.
The Federal Public Prosecutor announced on Monday that he had initiated preliminary proceedings on suspicion of intentionally causing an explosive explosion and anti-constitutional sabotage. The procedure is directed against unknown persons.
The Kremlin has dismissed speculation about Russian participation as “stupid and absurd”. On Thursday it became known that Russia had presented the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden and Denmark with protest notes against the background of the three-country investigations, which were still perceived as joint at the time. According to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow will not recognize any “pseudo-results” of Western investigations unless its own experts are involved.