Sweden blocks the Nord Stream region to investigate leaks
Stockholm:
Swedish prosecutors said Monday they had decided to cordon off the area surrounding the Nord Stream pipeline’s leaks in the Baltic Sea, while the suspected sabotage was investigated.
In order to pursue the investigation into “gross sabotage”, the prosecutor in charge had decided “to cordon off the area to carry out a crime scene investigation”, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
“The investigation is ongoing, we are at an intensive stage… I understand the great public interest, but we are in the early stages of a preliminary investigation and therefore I cannot comment on the details of what investigative steps we are taking,” publicly. Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist was quoted in the statement.
Sweden’s coast guard announced in a separate statement that it had begun enforcing the prosecutor’s decision to cordon off an area of five nautical miles (9.26 kilometers, 5.75 miles) on Monday.
“The ban prohibits operating vessels, anchoring, diving, fishing, operating underwater vehicles or conducting geophysical surveys,” the Coast Guard said.
All four leaks, which were discovered on Monday last week, are in the Baltic Sea off the Danish island of Bornholm.
Two of the leaks are in the Swedish exclusive economic zone and the other two in the Danish one.
The Swedish coast guard also said it could no longer observe gas coming from the leak on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but bubbles from a smaller leak could still be seen above Nord Stream 2 on Monday afternoon.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which link Russia to Germany, have been at the center of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although the pipelines are not currently operational, both still contained gas before falling victim to apparent sabotage.
Both Washington and Moscow have denied responsibility for the leaks.
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