BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen considers sabotage to be the cause of the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and has threatened the possible perpetrators with the harshest consequences. “Any intentional disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will result in the strongest possible response,” von der Leyen tweeted late Tuesday night. She spoke to the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about the “sabotage action”. “It is of the utmost importance to investigate the incidents now and get full clarity on what happened and the reasons why.
A total of three leaks were discovered in one of the tubes of Nord Stream 2 and in both tubes of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after an initial drop in pressure on Monday night. As early as Tuesday, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Russia considered an attack on the European gas infrastructure to be the cause of the unprecedented damage to both pipelines. From the point of view of German security circles, there was much to be said for sabotage.
If it was an attack, only a state actor would come into question in view of the effort, it said. Although gas is currently not being delivered through any of the pipelines, the gas price has risen due to the uncertainty./DP/zb