Germany will form a joint team with Denmark and Sweden to investigate the Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced Saturday.
In a video conference discussion with his counterparts from Denmark and Sweden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that Germany would “support the joint investigation” of the two countries into the underwater explosions that they believe are the cause of the leaks.
Faeser told the weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag that she had agreed with her counterparts in Denmark and Sweden that the investigative work would be carried out “by a joint team within the framework of EU laws” comprising members from all three countries.
“All indications point to an act of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines,” she said.
The team will draw on the expertise of “the navy, police and intelligence services,” she said.
The security forces are monitoring Germany’s energy infrastructure with “increased vigilance”, but there is no “concrete information about threats to German sites”, she said.
On Friday, Faeser told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that German police were patrolling the North and Baltic Seas with “all available forces” after the explosions, in cooperation with neighboring countries.
The Nord Stream pipelines, which have been shut down since the end of August, were strategic installations for the direct delivery of Russian gas to Germany.
In a report submitted to the United Nations, Sweden and Denmark said Friday that according to “all available information, these explosions are the result of a deliberate act”, but without naming a guilty country.
The source and perpetrator of the explosions remain a mystery.
Russia, to which all eyes have turned, rejects any responsibility and accuses the West.
