Sweden clarifies there are four leaks in Nord Stream’s pipelines – POLITICO
The Swedish Coast Guard confirmed on Thursday that there are four leaks in the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, two of which are in the Swedish and two in the Danish exclusive economic zone.
Jenny Larsson, an officer with the Swedish Coast Guard, said: “We’ve known about these two, which are in the Swedish EEZ, since we had our first unit on the scene, so they probably happened at the same time [as each other]”, spoke to the national radio Swedens radio.
Three leaks were reported earlier this week, and the Swedish official said a fourth leak was also found at the time.
In the Swedish economic zone, the larger leak “is approximately 900 meters in diameter and is above Nord Stream 1. The other is a smaller leak and is above Nord Stream 2. It is approximately 200 meters in diameter,” Larsson said.
Although there is agreement among EU countries that the leaks are intentional — with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemnation “sabotage” and “intentional disruption of active European energy infrastructure” – the bloc remains wary of naming a perpetrator.
Instead, countries such as Germany and Denmark are sounding the alarm about the increased need for monitoring of the EU’s critical infrastructure.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, the German ambassador to UK Miguel Berger said: “It is also clear that a non-state actor could not have done it.”
Pressed on whether Berlin believes Russia is behind the leaks, the ambassador said: “I think we cannot rule anything out in the current state.”
“I think now the bottom line for all of us is what about our critical infrastructure: submarine cables, pipelines, telephone networks… All of these require additional monitoring,” he added.
“It’s clear that we all need to be very aware of our critical infrastructure,” echoed Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning.
Another official riding around Moscow is Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency. Speaking at a renewable energy conference on Thursday in Paris, he said that while “it is not yet known who did” the leaks, it was “very clear” who was behind the sabotage – but did not name his suspect.