RUSSIA SAYS DENMARK DECISION TO END PROBE INTO NORD STREAM EXPLOSIONS “ABSURD”

Mon 26 February 2024:

Denmark has closed its investigation into the 2022 explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines, police said on Monday.

Although the investigation had found that the blasts were the result of sabotage, there were insufficient grounds to bring the matter to court in Denmark, the Danish police said in a press release.

Three weeks ago, their Swedish counterparts came to the same decision.

The Nord Stream pipelines, which transported natural gas from Russia to European markets via Germany, were severely damaged by blasts in the Baltic Sea in September 2022. Sweden, Denmark and Germany had been conducting separate investigations into the incident. Sweden closed its investigation earlier this month, with no culprit found.

“The situation is close to absurd. On the one hand, (authorities) have recognized that a deliberate sabotage had taken place, and on the other hand, there would be no further progress,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He recalled that Moscow had repeatedly contacted Denmark during the initial stages of the investigation and asked for information about the process. However, all requests were rejected, and Russia was forbidden to take part in any investigative actions, he said.

Calling the situation quite obvious and astonishing, Peskov said Moscow will continue to closely monitor the results of Germany’s investigation, which is still ongoing.

“We will certainly monitor (the situation), and if there will be any opportunities to obtain information, we will use these opportunities, but for now the situation is quite paradoxical,” Peskov said.

The Danish police said that the investigation had been thorough and that they had cooperated with foreign partners.

The press release did not specify which these foreign partners were, but Swedish authorities said previously that they had shared evidence with their counterparts in Germany.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced earlier this month that its investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions had been closed, adding that “the conclusion of the investigation is that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply.”

The explosions, which took place on Sept. 26, 2022, destroyed the pipelines built to transport gas from Russia to Germany. Four leaks were discovered in the Swedish and Danish exclusive economic zones of the Baltic Sea in September 2022, and Sweden soon opened an investigation into the matter.

On Nov. 18, 2022, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said that the pipelines had been deliberately damaged, based on “the crime scene investigations that were carried out on-site in the Baltic Sea.”

In February 2023, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh revealed that the United States had partnered with Norway in a top-secret operation in June 2022 to plant remotely triggered explosives that took out three of the four Nord Stream pipelines three months later. Washington has denied such an allegation.

Mats Ljungqvist, the Swedish prosecutor leading the probe, said in April 2023 that a state actor “directly or at least indirectly behind all this” was the “absolute main scenario,” without naming any country.

Sweden, Denmark and Germany have been investigating the incident separately. Russia had repeatedly called for a joint investigation, but the calls had been rejected.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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