dpa
Stockholm/Brussels
Gas has stopped leaking from the underwater Nord Stream 2 pipeline days after it came under an apparent attack, according to Danish officials on Saturday, who said they were alerted by the pipeline’s operators.
According to the statement, the operators say pressure in the pipeline has stabilized, meaning no more gas is venting.
Since the early hours of Monday, a total of four leaks have been detected in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Europe until they were shut down in recent months as Russia lashed out against Europe, which had laid sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Many European states assume sabotage was behind the leaks.
At least two explosions had occurred under water, Denmark and Sweden said in a letter dated Thursday. Seismological institutes measured a magnitude of 2.3 and 2.1, which “probably corresponds to an explosive charge of several hundred kilograms.” European Union leaders will discuss the “sabotage” at an upcoming summit in Prague, according to European Council President Charles Michel.
The incidents were “a threat to the EU,” Michel wrote on Twitter after meeting Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen in Brussels on Saturday. “We are determined to secure our critical infrastructure,” he wrote.
“The damage to [the Nord Stream pipelines] is not accidental and must be thoroughly investigated,” Frederiksen tweeted. The leaks were a “serious situation for Europe,” she added.
European leaders from more than 40 countries are invited to a gathering in Prague on Thursday, before the leaders of the EU’s 27 member states are to meet on Friday.
Germany says it wants to support Denmark and Sweden in the investigation into explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea this week.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced a joint investigation group. “All indications point to acts of sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines,” she told the Sunday edition of the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in comments seen in advance by dpa.
Germany is working very closely with Denmark and Sweden to clarify the background to the explosions. “We now want to form a joint investigation team ... under EU law to which all three states will send investigators,” Faeser said.
Experts from the navy, police and intelligence services are expected work together on the investigation. Faeser also announced sea checks with neighbouring Poland, Denmark and Sweden.
“We are patrolling the sea in close coordination with each other. We are showing the maximum possible presence,” she said. All available ships from the German federal police would be deployed for this purpose. She made similar comments to the broadsheet Süddeutsche Zeitung.
NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg also met with Frederiksen in Brussels “to address the sabotage on the Nordstream pipelines,” he wrote on Twitter.
“NATO allies will continue our close cooperation on resilience [and the] protection of critical infrastructure,” Stoltenberg wrote. He also thanked Fredriksen “for Denmark’s key contributions to Ukraine at this pivotal moment.” Frederiksen tweeted that they discussed “the serious situation in the Baltic Sea and cooperation on securing critical infrastructure.”
