In the aftermath of the Nord Stream sabotage on September 26th and 27th, European governments have given conflicting information on who is investigating and with whom they share their information. While there is widespread consensus that the gas pipelines were sabotaged, investigative collaboration continues to be a hurdle. From Politico Europe:
Investigations into September’s attacks on Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines are testing levels of trust among nearby EU states as they weigh whether to share intelligence in efforts to establish the culprit.
The prevailing opinion among most ‘observers,’ Politico explains, is that “Russia blew up the pipelines … in an effort to further destabilize Europe’s energy supplies.” This, however, has not motivated the governments of Denmark, Germany, and Sweden, whose territories are in closest proximity to the sabotaged area, to cooperate. On the contrary, Politico reports, the three countries are still facing “the delicate task” of determining who is responsible for the sabotage.
As an example of the problems in intelligence sharing, Danish public broadcaster DR reported in May 2021 that:
The powerful American intelligence service [National Security Agency] had used its cooperation with the [Danish] Defense Intelligence Service on tapping Danish internet cables as a way to spy on government leaders, top politicians, and high-ranking civil servants in Germany, Sweden, Norway, and France.
As a sign of the difficulties in inter-government cooperation following the revelations of Denmark-based NSA spying, Politico reports that the Swedish prosecutorial office in charge of the country’s Nord Stream investigation referred to “national security” as a reason for not cooperating with other countries. At the same time, Politico quotes a source within SÄPO, the Swedish national security police, saying that Sweden is “cooperating with both Germany and Denmark” on the Nord Stream investigation.
Adding a new angle to the issue, Al Jazeera reports:
British navy personnel planted explosives and blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, Russia’s defense ministry says, a claim London called false and designed to distract from Moscow’s military failures in Ukraine.
In a twist to the story that has yet to be independently verified, AsiaMarkets published a claim made by controversial online commentator Kim Dotcom [Kim Schmitz]. According to the report, former British foreign minister and prime minister Liz Truss allegedly confirmed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the Nord Stream sabotage had been carried out. Kim Dotcom says that the Russian accusation originated in an iCloud hack of a cell phone.
