Tue 27 September 2022:
Member states of the European Union are racing to investigate sudden and unexplained leaks in two Russian gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea, infrastructure at the heart of a dispute between Moscow and the EU.
Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning on Tuesday about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a day after Denmark restricted shipping and imposed a small no-fly zone due to a leak in the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Both were in the nearby area of the Danish island of Bornholm.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the leaks were caused by sabotage, while his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said it was “hard to imagine” they were a “coincidence”.
“Today we faced an act of sabotage, we don’t know all the details of what happened, but we see clearly that it’s an act of sabotage, related to the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine,” Morawiecki said.
The incidents took place just before the Baltic Pipe, a centerpiece of Warsaw’s efforts to diversify its supply of gas away from Russia, was ceremoniously launched on Tuesday.
Moscow, which reduced its gas shipments to Europe in retaliation for sanctions placed over its invasion of Ukraine, called for a “urgent investigation” and described the leaks as “very alarming.”
The Nord Stream pipelines have been focal points in an intensifying energy conflict between Moscow and European capitals that has wreaked havoc on the biggest Western economies, driven up gas prices, and sparked a search for alternative energy sources.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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