As of: February 6, 2024, 2:33 p.m
By: Alexandra Heidsiek
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Press
Split
Sweden apparently wants to end its investigation into the Nord Stream explosions.
The German investigation into the sabotage continues.
Update from February 6th, 1:30 p.m.:
The Swedish public prosecutor's office apparently wants to end its investigation into the sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 Baltic Sea pipelines shortly.
Several media outlets report this unanimously.
The Swedish authorities were therefore unable to identify any specific suspects in their country.
The final decision is expected on Wednesday (October 7).
The decision will only affect the Swedish investigation - so the German proceedings will continue.
As the media reported, the German authorities could even benefit from the Swedish move: the Swedish public prosecutor's office may then make their evidence available to them.
First report: Nord Stream investigations - Sweden close to decision
Stockholm - A year and a half after the crime, there is movement in the investigation into the exploded Baltic Sea pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2. The public prosecutor responsible for the investigation, Mats Ljungqvist, told the Swedish newspaper
Expressen
that he would decide on how to proceed in the coming days want.
The ruling will only affect the Swedish investigations.
The commissioning of Nord Stream 2 was already on hold at the start of the war
Three of the four strands of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were severely damaged by multiple underwater explosions on September 26, 2022.
The pipelines, more than 1,200 kilometers long, were intended to transport natural gas from Russia directly to Germany.
However, Berlin refused to allow the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which had been completed a few months earlier, to be put into operation after the start of the Ukraine war.
After the attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, gas leaks into the Baltic Sea.
© picture alliance/dpa/ESA
The pipelines had political explosive power even before the act of sabotage.
Nord Stream 2 is wholly owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Experts warned that this would make Germany even more dependent on gas supplies from the Kremlin.
The EU had also always criticized the project and pointed out that Russia could use the lines to exert political pressure on its European partners.
Traces of the Nord Stream investigation lead to Poland and Ukraine
In addition, the government in Warsaw in particular had complained about potential losses.
The overland route of the “Yamal” pipeline, which is also operated by Russia, brought Poland high royalty income and a good position to negotiate better natural gas prices.
Ukraine, as a transit country for the “Soyuz” pipeline, was also affected by similar consequences.
In the course of the current investigation, both countries are suspected of embezzling information.
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In October 2023, there were contradictory reports from Poland about Russia's possible involvement in the attack.
In Kołobrzeg (Kolberg), border officials examined the crew of the suspicious sailing yacht “Andromeda”, which was near the pipelines at the time of the crime.
However, according to Die Zeit
, they do not want to share alleged video recordings
with the German authorities.
In addition, the company from which the “Andromeda” was chartered is based in Warsaw, according to a report by
ARD
.
Ukrainian ex-agent probably part of the Nord Stream saboteur group
In Ukraine, however, the trail leads to a special forces commander.
While President Volodymyr Zelenskyj denies any involvement, a joint investigation by
Spiegel
and the
Washington Post
points to the disgraced ex-secret service agent Roman Tscherwynsky.
He is said to have coordinated the demolition and was responsible for the logistics.
The accusation is explosive: Chervynsky, who is said to have been involved in the sham recruitment of Wagner mercenaries in Donbass in 2020, was a high-ranking agent.
It hardly seems possible that he could have planned the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines without the Ukrainian General Staff led by Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zalushnyj knowing about it.
Ljungqvist did not give any details when he announced an early decision on the course of the investigation.
Whether he will charge someone, issue an arrest warrant or stop the investigation entirely remains to be seen.
(uh)