Sweden and Denmark have set up emergency staff after leaks from the gas pipeline Nord Stream 1 and 2 just outside the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. On Monday, measuring stations in the area registered powerful underwater explosions in the same places where the leaks were discovered, reports SVT. The leaks are now being investigated as possible sabotage. Gas bubbles up from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, about one kilometer from the Danish island of Bornholm. Photo: DANISH DEFENSE COMMAND / Reuters Ståle Ulriksen is a researcher and teacher at the Norwegian Naval Academy. He is convinced that Russia is behind it. Ulriksen believes that the gas leaks fit into a pattern in which Russia, ever since the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, has operated with so-called non-attributable actions. There are actions that cannot be traced back to those behind them. – Their behavior is often such that they are not to blame. They don’t take responsibility, they pretend it’s an accident or something is wrong, says Ulriksen. The Polish Prime Minister also believes that Russia is behind it. – We do not know exactly what happened today, but we clearly see that it was an act of sabotage, says Mateusz Morawiecki. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says that sabotage cannot be ruled out. Ståle Ulriksen is a researcher at the Norwegian Naval Academy. He is certain that the leaks from the pipelines in the Baltic Sea are due to Russian sabotage. Photo: Norwegian Naval Academy Facts about Nord Stream * Nord Stream 1 and 2 are the names of two gas pipelines that run between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. * Nord Stream 1 consists of two pipelines that opened in 2011 and 2012. It is over 120 miles long and runs from Vyborg in northwestern Russia to Greifswald in northeastern Germany, where it connects to a German oil pipeline. * When it was built, the pipeline was the world’s longest undersea pipeline. * Nord Stream 2 is two oil pipelines that run parallel to Nord Stream 1. It was built between 2018 and 2021 to double the capacity of Russian gas exports to Europe. A total of 110 billion cubic meters of gas can flow through the two pipelines. * The developments have met strong opposition in countries in Eastern Europe and in the United States, which feared that the pipelines would increase Russia’s influence in Europe. There have also been fears that they would outcompete other pipelines that transported Russian gas to Europe, including a pipeline that runs via Ukraine. * In December 2019, the USA adopted sanctions against all companies involved in the project, including several European companies. US opposition is also believed to have been linked to commercial interests as the US exports liquefied natural gas by ship to Poland and Lithuania. * Germany suspended the approval of Nord Stream 2 on 22 February this year as a result of Russia’s recognition of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Two days later, Russia invaded Ukraine. This led to Nord Stream 2 going bankrupt. * On 27 September, an unusual drop in pressure was reported in both Nord Stream 1 and 2. It was then determined that there were leaks in both oil pipelines outside the Danish island of Bornholm. Source: NTB Wants to pressure the West Ulriksen believes that Russia is now using tougher means to pressure the West. The goal is to succeed in the war against Ukraine. Russia is on the defensive thanks to large arms deliveries from Western countries. The country will now put much greater pressure on the West to get us to stop this, says Ulriksen. – Winning the war is extremely important for Russia. Now they are getting desperate, says Ulriksen. He believes Putin’s mobilization order last week is an example of that. Ulriksen believes that the war in Ukraine has led Europe into a completely new situation. – Russia has failed in a great deal of what they have done. They make pretty desperate moves. The situations are quite ugly. It is not a normal situation we are in. This is a very different situation from everything we have experienced for many decades. Norway and other Western countries started donating weapons to Ukraine soon after the war started in February this year. The arms deliveries have put Russia on the defensive. Photo: Anette Ask / Forsvaret / NTB Kremlin: No causes can be ruled out Russia was early on in saying that the leaks could be due to sabotage. – No causes can be ruled out, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to Reuters. He says the Russian authorities are very concerned about the leak. Russian authorities have so far not commented on the accusations that they are behind it. Russia has mapped all Norwegian submarine cables Norway is a major supplier of gas to Europe. Ulriksen believes that the leaks from the pipelines in the Baltic Sea are a wake-up call for Norway. – In a conflict between the West and Russia, Norway is sitting on enormous strategic resources which are crucial for an outcome. Europe is very dependent on what we deliver. If you want to target Europe, you can target our deliveries. He believes that this is something Norway has not prepared for. – We know that Russia has mapped all Norwegian pipelines and cable systems from Norway. We have let them do that without anyone reacting very much to it. We are very vulnerable. He does not want to speculate on whether Norwegian pipelines may be exposed to sabotage in the future. – I don’t want to speculate on how big the chance is, but it has never been bigger, says Ulriksen.
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Ståle Ulriksen believes the gas leaks from Nord Stream are Russian sabotage – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
