(new: investigations in Russia into the pipeline leaks)
BRUSSELS/BORNHOLM (dpa-AFX) – There is a growing conviction in the West that the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines are due to an act of sabotage. Everything points to an intentional act, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Wednesday on behalf of the 27 member states. At the same time, the EU threatened those responsible with sanctions. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also spoke of sabotage. However, Western politicians held back from assigning blame. Russia denied any responsibility.
On the night of Monday, a sharp drop in pressure was initially detected in one of the two tubes of the unused Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Later, the Nord Stream 1 operator reported a drop in pressure in these two tubes as well. Danish authorities finally discovered a total of three leaks in the two pipelines. Already on Tuesday, several countries brought an attack on the European gas infrastructure into play as the cause of the unprecedented damage.
A spokesman for Nord Stream 2 AG spoke of a possible “giant crack” on Wednesday. A spokesman for Nord Stream AG said it was “unprecedented” that such damage had occurred to several lines within a short period of time.
EU chief diplomat Borrell stressed that they were very concerned about the damage. “These incidents are no coincidence and concern us all,” said the Spaniard. “All available information indicates that these leaks are the result of a deliberate act.” Any investigation intended to provide clarity will be supported. At the same time, he made it clear that any intentional disruption of the European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and “will be answered with a robust and joint response”. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen made a similar statement.
A spokesman for the federal government said on Wednesday that there “cannot be any natural cause for this incident”. When asked whether it was an attack, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: “I wouldn’t describe it at the moment.”
Ukraine had already blamed Russia for the leaks on Tuesday. This should exacerbate the energy crisis in Europe and trigger panic before winter.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected such accusations on Wednesday. “It’s quite predictably and predictably stupid and absurd to make such assumptions,” he said, according to the Interfax agency. The damage is also a big problem for Russia. Both strands of Nord Stream 2 are filled with gas. “This gas costs a lot of money, and now it’s escaping into the air.”
Before any statements would be made, investigations would have to be awaited to look at the leaks and determine whether or not there was an explosion, Peskow said. He also called for Russia to be involved in investigating the incidents. Peskow himself had not ruled out sabotage on Tuesday.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office opened an international terrorism case over alleged sabotage of the pipelines. “No later than September 26, 2022, intentional acts to damage the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines laid on the Baltic Sea floor were committed in the Bornholm area,” the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said on Wednesday on its Telegram channel. Moscow justified the step by saying that the damage to the pipelines had “inflicted considerable economic damage on Russia”. Moscowf also called for a special session of the UN Security Council because of the leaks.
It was unclear when the leaks could be investigated. With so much gas in the lines, it could take a week or two for the area to calm down enough to investigate the leaks about 80 meters below the surface, Danish Defense Minister Morten Bødskov said in Brussels. However, the Danish energy authority later explained that more than half of the gas had already escaped from the affected lines. The lines should therefore probably be empty on Sunday, as the head of the authorities Kristoffer Böttzauw said.
The operator of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline did not rule out repairing the damaged double strand. At the moment, however, nothing can be ruled out, a spokesman for Nord Stream AG told the German Press Agency. For an accurate assessment, the damage must first be assessed. There are experiences and providers for possible work. They want to inspect the damage as soon as possible, but that requires the authorities to lift the restricted zones that have been imposed.
According to Nord Stream 2 AG, the exact damage to its largely parallel pipeline is still unknown. “No one can seriously say at the moment what it looks like down there” and what technical possibilities there are now, said spokesman Ulrich Lissek.
According to Danish Minister Bødskov, the leaks are in international waters in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden. Both countries had set up safety zones for shipping after the discovery. Ships are not allowed to pass through the area around the leaks in a radius of five nautical miles (almost 9.3 kilometers).
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that a conversation with Bødskov was about “the sabotage” of the pipelines. They also talked about protecting critical infrastructure in NATO countries. Borrell also said steps would be taken to make energy security more robust. Bødskov himself emphasized that it was not about his country’s critical infrastructure.
That Federal Ministry of the Interior explained to secure the infrastructure in Germany that the measures would always be adapted to the situation, also against the background of the current situation. An “abstract risk situation” for the critical infrastructure can always be assumed, not just after the current incident.
The Federal Environment Agency is concerned about escaping methane after the leaks. According to calculations by the authority, the damage leads to around 7.5 million tons of so-called CO2 equivalents. That corresponds to about one percent of Germany’s total annual emissions, the authority announced on Wednesday. The calculation is based on estimated filling status and volume information for the two pipelines. For better comparability, other greenhouse gases are converted into CO2 equivalents. The benchmark is their respective contribution to global warming compared to carbon dioxide./wim/sku/DP/he