STOCKHOLM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hot questions and answers on why the mystery behind the Nord Stream pipelines is so difficult to solve.
Xinhua News Agency reporter
Sweden and Denmark announced the end of the investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline incident this month, and have not publicly named any suspects so far, and the reason is becoming more and more suspicious.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline transports gas from Russia to Europe. **This comes at a time when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is escalating and Europe is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. After the incident, Denmark, Sweden and Germany launched separate investigations, but all refused to allow Russia to participate. Now, why are Denmark and Sweden picking and not checking one after another? The investigation lasted more than a year, and what was found? Who blew up the "Nord Stream", and why is the mystery so difficult to solve?
Find out what's wrong.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline is a joint project between Russia and German, Dutch and French companies, in which Russia holds a majority stake. Nord Stream 1 was launched in 2012 and transports gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea to Europe. Nord Stream 2 is roughly parallel to Nord Stream 1, and after its completion in 2021, it was delayed from operation due to obstruction by the United States.
At the end of September 2022, the Nord Stream pipelines** leaked, with leaks in 3 of the 4 pipelines, with a total of 4 leaks, located in the waters near Sweden and Denmark.
*After the incident, Denmark, Sweden and Germany separately launched investigations, but refused to allow Russia to participate, and the investigation progressed slowly. Now, two of the three countries have not been investigated, and there are very few "dry goods" in the investigation conclusions that have been "spit out".
Denmark announced the end of the investigation on the 26th. According to **, the investigation was "complex and comprehensive" and "sabotage", but "the evidence was insufficient to bring criminal proceedings in Denmark" and no further comment could be made.
Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov believes that Denmark's decision is "almost absurd": "On the one hand, they admit that the pipeline is a deliberate sabotage, but on the other hand, they will not continue the investigation."
Swedish prosecutors announced the conclusion of the investigation earlier this month, citing "Sweden has no jurisdiction", saying that the main purpose of the investigation was to confirm whether Swedish citizens were somehow involved in the ** incident. In April last year, Swedish prosecutors noted that the most likely maker was "a state-sponsored gang."
The Swedish prosecution has handed over the material that could be used as evidence to Germany.
Who is suspected. The Russian side said that Sweden ended the investigation because it was afraid to reveal the truth, while Denmark was worried that it would find out about its "closest ally".
There have been many theories about the events behind the scenes.
The West accused Russia of threatening Europe by sabotaging the pipeline after the incident. However, many analysts pointed out that if Russia wants to cut off natural gas, it only needs to close the valve and does not need to blow up the pipeline that it invested money to build. The West's arguments are unconscionable and are gradually losing their market.
Seymour Hersh, a well-known American investigative journalist, broke the news in February last year that the United States and Norway had blasted the "Nord Stream" pipelines, and also disclosed many details. Hersh said that the US side sabotaged the pipeline to prevent Germany from using this "energy artery" to ensure that European countries follow NATO in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The U.S. has both the ability and the motivation to sabotage, a statement that has gained a lot of acceptance.
Soon after, the American "New York Times" and the German "Der Spiegel" magazine threw out a third theory, saying that the incident may have been caused by a Ukrainian group, and Ukraine may not know about it. The Russian side immediately accused this statement of shielding the real culprit.
At present, Russia, the United States, and Ukraine have all denied sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines.
For the European countries that launched the survey, the survey seemed to be a hot potato. If it is determined that Russia is behind the scenes, it will be difficult to convince the international community, and if the spearhead is pointed at Ukraine, which is strongly supported by the United States or Europe and the United States, it will be embarrassing. Closing the investigation is perhaps the most "appropriate" outcome.
Why the mystery is so hard to solve.
Carlson, a well-known American news anchor, interviewed Russia's Vladimir Putin earlier this month. Carlson asked Putin: "Who blew the Nord Stream gas pipelines?" Putin replied with a smile: "Of course it's you." ”
Putin said that the whole world knows what happened to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, and even some American analysts directly said so. In his opinion, in order to find out about the Nord Stream pipeline incident, it is necessary to find out who has both the motive and the ability to do so.
Putin also said that although Nord Stream 2 was damaged, one of the pipelines was still intact and could deliver gas to Europe, and that the Russian side was ready, but Germany did not agree to open it. According to Putin, he was surprised that "the current German leaders do not act in the interests of their own country, but in the interests of the collective West."
German prosecutor spokesman Ines Petersson told the Russian News Agency on the 27th: "I can only tell you that our investigation continues. ”
Kennette Erlenschleger Bull, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defence College, said Sweden said that the investigation had been dismissed because it had "no jurisdiction" and that it could not be questioned by those involved, and that Denmark meant the same thing, "just with a slightly different wording". In his opinion, Germany could not come to any other conclusions, "maybe just lift the lid a little more, not too much". (Participating reporters: Fu Yiming, He Miao, Liu Jiang, Hu Ruoyu, Guo Qian) (end).