Nord Stream 2: Berlin does not believe in the availability of a second tube

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Baltic Sea after possible act of sabotage of pipeline (photo from September 27)

Photo: HANDOUT/AFP

In the energy dispute between Russia and Germany, the Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 are also repeatedly at the center of attention.

Contrary to Russian statements, the German government is currently not assuming that one of the two tubes of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is still intact after the September explosions.

"It is very likely that the act of sabotage with strong explosions had a negative impact on both pipeline strands and that the basic technical availability is therefore no longer given," said the federal government in response to a parliamentary question from AfD parliamentary group leader Leif-Erik Holm .

In addition, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has not received the certification necessary for its operation anyway and will still not be able to go into operation.

Berlin stopped the process after Russia invaded Ukraine.

It seems to him "as if one were hoping at the traffic light that the issue of gas supplies via Nord Stream has been dealt with by the attacks," said AfD MP Holm.

His party advocates commissioning Nord Stream 2 and rejects the course of the federal government, which wants to become independent of Russian gas supplies in response to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

At the end of September, four leaks in the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 were discovered after explosions near the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, two of them in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.

The pipelines were not operating at the time of the explosions but contained gas.

Four leaks on the two pipelines - sabotage most likely

Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating the four leaks in the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea.

Underwater footage this month showed the full extent of the damage to the pipelines for the first time.

Leading world politicians have described the damage as acts of sabotage, and quite a few see Russia as responsible.

Moscow, in turn, accused the investigating countries of investigating the explosions with the intention of falsely blaming Russia.

Two weeks ago, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin offered gas supplies through what he said was still an operational stretch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

"All you have to do is turn on the tap," he said at the Russian Energy Week in Moscow.

According to him, the tube was probably not damaged in such a way that it could no longer be used.

jok/dpa