According to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, it is very difficult to think that the damage to the pipeline is a coincidence. For the European Commission it is “premature” to speculate on the causes of the losses. The Danish Energy Authority has warned that pipeline leaks will continue “for days”. Seismological measurement stations in both Sweden and Denmark recorded massive underwater explosions in the same area as the gas leaks on Monday, Swedish national broadcaster Svt reported.
“The gas leaks from the Nord Stream are under investigation, the first reports indicate that they were caused by an attack but they are only the first news,” said the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. “In the coming months we must work to put an end to Europe’s energy dependence on Russia,” the US Secretary of State underlined. The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen wrote in a tweet that she had spoken with the Danish premier Mette Frederiksen: «It is now essential to investigate the incidents, to obtain full clarity on the events and why. Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response. ‘
Kiev: terrorist attack by Russia
«The gas leak from Nord Stream 1 is nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression against the EU. Russia wants to destabilize the economic situation in Europe and cause pre-winter panic ». Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writes on Twitter. «The best security response and investment is to supply tanks to Ukraine. Especially the German ones .. », he adds.
Strong explosions in the submarine area on Monday
Seismological measurement stations in both Sweden and Denmark recorded strong underwater explosions in the same area as the gas leaks on Monday. “There is no doubt that these are explosions,” said Björn Lund, professor of seismology at the Swedish National Seismic Network. The first explosion was recorded at 02.03 on Monday night and the second at 19.04 on Monday evening. The warnings on gas leaks arrived from the maritime administration at 13.52 and 20.41 on Monday.
Nord Stream has been standing still for weeks
Currently the pipeline is not pumping gas to Germany: Gazprom in recent weeks has decided to interrupt the flow due to the need for maintenance works which, however, according to Moscow, are not possible due to Western sanctions on Russia which prevent the supply of certain components. Brussels accused Moscow of seeking a pretext to blackmail Europe over gas supplies.