COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish authorities said Wednesday they have no jurisdiction over the September 2022 explosion on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipeline built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany. announced that they had decided to close the investigation.
The Swedish investigation was only one of three related to the explosion. Denmark and Germany are also investigating the explosion.
The attack came as Europe sought to wean itself off Russian energy sources in the wake of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, contributing to tensions after the war began. The cause of this sabotage remains a major international mystery.
“Swedish jurisdiction does not apply,” Mats Ljungqvist, a prosecutor at the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office, said in a statement.
The main aim of the investigation was to determine “whether Swedish nationals were involved” and whether Sweden was in any way used to carry out the explosion, thereby endangering the Scandinavian country, authorities said. Stated.
Hans Liwon of the Swedish National Defense Academy called it a “natural decision”.
“Already from the beginning they said this was not necessarily a crime committed against Sweden,” Liwon said. The investigation is “a fact-finding and evidence-finding process, and the investigation may be discontinued once enough information is gathered to determine what happened and how it happened.”
The undersea explosion destroyed the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Russia cut off supplies in late August of that year.
The explosion also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was never put into service because Germany suspended the certification process just before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Kenneth Ohrenschläger-Bühl of the Royal Danish Defense College said Sweden’s decision “suggests there may have been some political involvement.”
“There may be good reasons for not drawing a conclusion,” Ohlenschlager-Buhl said. “Sweden is in a delicate position because it wants to join NATO and may not want to destabilize the situation any further.”
Senior Ukrainian military officer says ‘systematic’ sabotage of Nord Stream pipeline: reporthttps://t.co/uDo0ndtBIa
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 12, 2023
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden put aside decades of military non-alignment and sought protection under NATO’s collective defense umbrella.
All new NATO members need approval to join the group, and Hungary is the only member state that has not given Sweden recognition. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been accused by critics of promoting Russia’s interests over those of its EU and NATO allies.
The pipeline explosion occurred at a depth of about 80 meters (260 feet) under the Baltic Sea, in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Seismic measurements showed that the explosion occurred just before the leak was discovered.
Ljungqvist declined to comment further on the Swedish investigation, but said Sweden was “cooperating closely” with Germany and “was able to hand over material that could be used as evidence in the German investigation.” said.
In Germany, federal prosecutors said “the investigation is continuing” and declined to comment further.
Copenhagen police, which is leading the Danish investigation, said the investigation was “not yet conclusively concluded” and that an announcement was expected “in the short term.”
Beyond the geopolitical implications, the Nord Stream pipeline leak is a major environmental disaster with local wildlife affected and large amounts of methane released into the Baltic Sea, analysts say. believe it may be the largest methane release caused by human activity.
More than 16 months after the sabotage, there is no acceptable explanation. As the investigation into the explosion continues, a series of unconfirmed reports variously blaming Russia, the United States and Ukraine fill in the information gap.
The pipeline has long been the subject of criticism from the United States and some allies, who have warned it poses a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian officials claimed the explosion was a terrorist attack and accused the United States of orchestrating it. The United States denies involvement.
In Moscow, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Sweden’s decision “surprising.”
“Of course, we will have to see how Germany itself will react to this. After all, this is a country that has lost a lot and has given up a lot in connection with this terrorist attack,” Peskov told reporters. He told the group.
“It will be interesting to see how carefully the German authorities approach this investigation,” he said.
In March 2023, German media reported that pro-Ukrainian groups used ships to leave the German port of Rostock and engage in sabotage activities. Ukraine rejected suggestions that it may have ordered the attack, and German officials expressed alarm at the accusations.
Investigations in Germany and Denmark have not yet solved the case, and Swedish prosecutors say state actors are most likely responsible, but warn that the perpetrator’s identity is still unknown and will continue to be investigated. He suggested that this was highly likely.
German investigators have so far found no evidence that Moscow was involved in the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea. https://t.co/f7LomNKa0m
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 5, 2023
