Sweden must further investigate damaged Nord Stream pipelines: Prosecutor
ANKARA
Sweden will investigate the damage to the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 further, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Friday.
– I have decided to, together with the security police, carry out a number of supplementary investigations at the crime scene, Mats Ljungqvist, chief prosecutor, was quoted in the statement.
“Following the request, the armed forces have decided to assist in the preliminary investigation,” he added.
Ljungqvist said the defense forces have the resources and expertise needed to investigate the crime scene “in the way we want”, adding that “all the authorities involved have a well-functioning cooperation and we are working intensively with joint forces in the ongoing preliminary investigation. “
He stated that Sweden also cooperates with authorities in other countries and “that cooperation also works excellently.”
“I fully understand the great interest in the ongoing preliminary investigation. But it is important … now (to) be able to work in peace and quiet,” he added.
On September 26, there were leaks on the natural gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 caused – as preliminary results of a Sweden-Denmark investigation showed – by a series of explosions believed to have been caused by deliberate sabotage.
The Nord Stream pipelines have two lines each, built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea by Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom, which owns most of the infrastructure.
The leaks coincided with the opening of the Baltic pipeline, which supplies natural gas from the North Sea through Denmark to Poland.