The Swedish prosecutor's office announced this Wednesday that it was closing its investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 in the Baltic Sea without any prosecution, considering that it was not within its jurisdiction.
“The conclusion of the investigation is that it is not within the jurisdiction of Swedish jurisdiction and that the investigation must therefore be closed
,” Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement.
Major geopolitical event, four huge gas leaks preceded by underwater explosions occurred on September 26, 2022 a few hours apart on Nord Stream 1 and 2, pipes connecting Russia to Germany and transporting the essential Russian gas to Europe.
At that time, Moscow had already stopped delivering gas via Nord Stream 1, amid an energy standoff with European countries that support Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 never entered service.
Also readSabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines: the key role of a Ukrainian officer, according to media
Three investigations
Three investigations have been opened, in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
The Swedish investigation is the first to be completed.
“There is no indication that Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in this attack which took place in international waters
,” said the Swedish prosecutor.
According to Ljungqvist, a
“large number”
of boat movements were analyzed and
“a thorough investigation was carried out at the crime scene”
.
Swedish intelligence service Säpo clarified, in a separate statement, that the sabotage was not aimed at Sweden and did not threaten the country's security.
The gas leaks occurred in international waters, off the Danish island of Bornholm and the coast of southern Sweden.
Responsibility for the explosions was attributed, according to different media investigations, to Ukraine, Russia or the United States, but all denied it.
The
“main hypothesis is that a state is behind”
the sabotage, Swedish prosecutor Ljungqvist said in April 2023, adding that its authors knew
“very well that they would leave traces”
.
“Remarkable,” says Moscow
As part of its judicial cooperation with Germany, the Swedish prosecutor's office was
“able to hand over documents which can be used as evidence in the German investigation
,” added Mats Ljungqvist on Wednesday.
“Our investigation continues
,” responded a spokesperson for the German federal prosecutor’s office when questioned by AFP.
“No additional information will be provided at this time
. ”
Russian authorities welcomed the Swedish decision.
“This is a remarkable decision
,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“It will be interesting to see how rigorously the German authorities will approach this investigation
,” he continued, saying that
“a lot of information has been published about the people who could be behind this affair
. ”
In November, a joint investigation by the American daily
Washington Post
and the German magazine
Der Spiegel
assured that a Ukrainian special forces commander had played a key role in the sabotage, as a
“coordinator”
of this action.
According to the
Washington Post
, the sabotage operation was allegedly designed by keeping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the dark.
Zelensky has repeatedly denied that his country could be involved.
“I would never do that
,” he told the German daily Bild last June, adding that he
“would like to see proof
. ”
Heavily dependent on Russian gas before the war in Ukraine, Germany had to quickly replace it with other suppliers, at the cost of soaring energy costs in Europe's largest economy.