After discussing the possibilities of the rupture of the Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, I thought I would check on the status of the investigations into the event.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has announced the nation won’t share findings of the investigation into the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines with Russian authorities or Gazprom (a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation).
Last week Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin sent a letter to the Swedish government demanding that Russian authorities and Gazprom would be allowed to be involved in the investigation, which Sweden denied.On Monday Andersson said Sweden won’t even share the findings of the explosions that took place in the Swedish economic zone, with Russian authorities.”In Sweden, our preliminary investigations are confidential, and that, of course, also applies in this case,” she told reporters.
However, Swedish officials have announced that the investigation shows evidence of “gross sabotage.”
“After completing the crime scene investigation, the Swedish Security Service can conclude that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone,” it said.The security service added that there was extensive damage to the gas pipelines and it had retrieved some material from the site that would now be analysed. The evidence “has strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage”, it added.The crime scene investigation conducted by the Swedish Coast Guard and Navy would have involved unmanned vehicles, Swedish navy spokesperson Jimmie Adamsson said.”The pipes are at a depth of 70-80 metres and at those depths you use unmanned underwater vehicles,” he added.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron says that Nordic leaders told their European partners that it was still pipeline.
Macron said France had proposed to countries with gas infrastructure in the North and Baltic Seas to launch co-ordinated operations with the French navy to secure and monitor the infrastructure.He added that infrastructure such as pipelines, cables and satellites were points of vulnerability and needed to be reinforced in the current context of geopolitical tension.That is one issue that will be discussed in the new forum launched in Prague, the European Political Community, which includes countries in and out of the EU, Macron said.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY