Spiegel: US warned Germany about possible attacks on Nord Stream

BERLIN, Sep 27 – PRIME. The United States warned the German government a few weeks ago that attacks on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines might be underway, the German publication Spiegel reported, citing its sources.

“A few weeks ago, the United States warned the German government about possible attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea,” the newspaper notes, adding that such information was transmitted to Berlin by the American intelligence service of the CIA in the summer.

As a “high-ranking representative of the Bundeswehr” commented to the publication, pipelines laid under water are of great importance for energy supply, despite this, they are still practically not protected from attacks.

On Monday, Nord Stream 2 AG reported that on one of the lines of Nord Stream 2 (it was filled with technical gas after construction), an emergency occurred in Danish waters near the island of Bornholm, accompanied by a sharp drop in pressure. In particular, the official representative of the operator noted that the pressure had dropped from 300 to 7 bar, the media wrote. The reasons are unknown, an investigation is underway, the company specified.

Then, Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream, reported a decrease in pressure on both strings (it was stopped since the end of August, but was filled with gas). The reasons are also unknown. According to information from the Danish and Swedish authorities, two gas leaks were discovered at Nord Stream in the northeast of Bornholm Island and one at Nord Stream 2 in the southeast of the island.

According to Bloomberg, Germany and Denmark do not rule out that the leaks at Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were due to sabotage. So, an unnamed representative of the German security services told the agency that “the evidence indicates that it was more of a forceful action than a technical problem.” The Swedish seismic center said that powerful underwater explosions were registered in the area of ​​gas leaks from Nord Stream on Monday, a journalist from the Swedish TV channel SVT reports. The media reported that the Swedish police launched an investigation into possible sabotage after the emergency at Nord Stream.