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Nord Stream Attacks Expose Vulnerability of European Infrastructure
The route of the gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea could have been copied out of a cruise catalogue. From Ust-Luga near St. Petersburg, the route leads through the Gulf of Finland, then south past the Estonian island of Hiiumaa, past Gotland in Sweden, past Bornholm through Danish waters before approaching the German coast and ending in Lubmin in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It's a route where you wouldn't typically expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, a region intended for comfortable vacations. A place where all was well.
Anschlag in der Tiefe
Heftige Explosionen haben die Röhren der deutsch-russischen Pipelines Nord Stream 1 und 2 in der Ostsee aufgerissen und fast 800 Millionen Kubikmeter Gas entweichen lassen. Während Geheimdienste nach den Tätern suchen, macht der Fall klar, wie verwundbar die Infrastruktur des Westens ist.
Lesen Sie unsere Titelgeschichte, weitere Hintergründe und Analysen im digitalen SPIEGEL.
Take the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline, for example, the completion of which wasn't permitted until 2009, when officials finally reached an agreement on contractually stipulated respect for cod spawning periods. The "Core Issues Paper on Fish and Fisheries," which teemed with mentions of sprat, herring and ruffe, was just a part of the environmental impact assessment – and it was 50 pages long on its own. Such papers tell the story of a different, better yesterday, of orderly procedures, of peaceful rule of law, transparent processes and binding treaties. On Monday, however, a little more of that world disappeared.
Contracts don't seem to apply any longer in the Baltic Sea. Russia’s war in Ukraine has, it seems, reached Europe's great inland sea and turned its floor into an offshore war zone. On that day, officials reported shocks from the underwater worlds off Denmark and Sweden, in the Bornholm Basin, baffling damage and large-scale destruction.
Initially, reports spoke of three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, with a fourth added later. It then emerged that the first explosion had taken place in a Russian-built section of the pipeline. The affected pipelines are not currently being used to transport gas, but they were still filled with hundreds of millions of cubic meters of natural gas.
The aerial shots of circles of roiling seawater, a vast whirlpool, immediately became the focus of news reports around the world. But what is the story behind those images? Has Russia really opened up a new front? Did the United States, as immediately discussed by many voices on Twitter and other social media platforms, finally drive a stake in the heart of a pipeline project that it has always strongly opposed? Are Ukrainian forces involved? Is it conceivable that "rogue units" were at work, out-of-control intelligence agencies that wanted to write history on their own? Or was it, as is often reflexively whispered in conspiracy theorist circles when it comes to processing unexpected and perplexing developments, Israeli's Mossad?
At the moment, there is not yet any evidence – neither concrete nor
circumstantial – to back any specific version of events. If there are
any meaningful leads at all, they will require weeks of legwork on the
part of civilian and military investigators. . ." READ MORE
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Russia calls UN meeting on Nord Stream pipelines sabotage
UNITED NATIONS — Russia called a Security Council meeting Tuesday on last September’s explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Western Europe after circulating a resolution calling for a U.N. investigation of the sabotage.
Ahead of the meeting, the ambassadors of Denmark, Sweden and Germany sent a letter to council members saying their investigations have established the pipelines were extensively damaged “by powerful explosions due to sabotage.”
The letter, circulated Tuesday morning, said further investigations are being conducted in all three countries and that it’s unclear when they’ll finish. It says Russian authorities have been informed about the ongoing investigations.
Security Council experts held closed consultations Monday on the Russian draft resolution and council diplomats said there was opposition to it. No vote was expected at Tuesday’s meeting, council diplomats said.
Some council diplomats view the resolution as a “spoiler” attempt to take the spotlight off U.N. meetings and adoption of a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding the withdrawal of all its forces on Thursday, the eve of the first anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines took place on Sept. 26.
Russia has alleged that the U.S. was behind the attack, and the country’s resolution says the sabotage “occurred after the repeated threats to the Nord Stream by the leadership of the United States.”
The U.S. denies the allegation. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price last week called it “pure disinformation” that the U.S. was involved in targeting Nord Stream.
In their letter to the council, Denmark, Sweden and Germany reiterated that acts of sabotage against the pipelines were “unacceptable, endanger international security and give cause for our deep concern.”
Concerns about the indirect effects on greenhouse gas emmissions are ”substantial and worrisome,” the letter said.
The Russian draft resolution, circulated to Security Council members and obtained by The Associated Press, expresses serious concern at the “devastating consequences to the environment” from the acts of sabotage which also “pose a threat to international peace and security.”
It asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently establish an independent international investigation of the sabotage to identify “its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices.” It says pipeline operator Russia and other interested parties have been barred from national investigations into the matter.
Russia calls UN meeting on Nord Stream pipelines sabotage
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia called a Security Council meeting Tuesday on last September’s explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Western Europe after circulating a resolution calling for a U.N. investigation of the sabotage.
Ahead of the meeting, the ambassadors of Denmark, Sweden and Germany sent a letter to council members saying their investigations have established the pipelines were extensively damaged “by powerful explosions due to sabotage.”
The letter, circulated Tuesday morning, said further investigations are being conducted in all three countries and that it’s unclear when they’ll finish. It says Russian authorities have been informed about the ongoing investigations.
Security Council experts held closed consultations Monday on the Russian draft resolution and council diplomats said there was opposition to it. No vote was expected at Tuesday’s meeting, council diplomats said.
Some council diplomats view the resolution as a “spoiler” attempt to take the spotlight off U.N. meetings and adoption of a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding the withdrawal of all its forces on Thursday, the eve of the first anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines took place on Sept. 26.
Russia has alleged that the U.S. was behind the attack, and the country’s resolution says the sabotage “occurred after the repeated threats to the Nord Stream by the leadership of the United States.”
The U.S. denies the allegation. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price last week called it “pure disinformation” that the U.S. was involved in targeting Nord Stream.
In their letter to the council, Denmark, Sweden and Germany reiterated that acts of sabotage against the pipelines were “unacceptable, endanger international security and give cause for our deep concern.”
Concerns about the indirect effects on greenhouse gas emmissions are ”substantial and worrisome,” the letter said.
The Russian draft resolution, circulated to Security Council members and obtained by The Associated Press, expresses serious concern at the “devastating consequences to the environment” from the acts of sabotage which also “pose a threat to international peace and security.”
It asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently establish an independent international investigation of the sabotage to identify “its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices.” It says pipeline operator Russia and other interested parties have been barred from national investigations into the matter.
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