The EC saw the involvement of “a certain state” in the emergency at Nord Stream

BERLIN, Sep 29 – PRIME. “A certain state” may be involved in the incidents at Nord Stream, says European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson.

“As far as I can tell, this is a very well-thought-out attack that cannot be carried out by an ordinary group of people. Thus, there is a high risk that some state is behind this,” she said on the air of the ZDF TV channel.

Johansson believes that the EU should do more to prevent such attacks on infrastructure. In her opinion, this incident represents an “escalation” and a “threat.” As a reaction to what happened, the European Commissioner noted, the EC proposes to conduct a stress test in relation to critical infrastructure facilities in the EU member states.

“Of course, we have a suspicion, but it’s too early to judge this definitively,” the European Commissioner added, answering the presenter’s question about which state could be involved in what happened.

On Monday, incidents occurred simultaneously on two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe. According to information from the authorities of Denmark and Sweden, two gas leaks were discovered at Nord Stream and one at Nord Stream 2 near the island of Bornholm. Germany, Denmark and Sweden do not rule out targeted sabotage.

The Russian side officially requested information from Denmark about the emergency at Nord Stream as soon as the incident became known. The Danish authorities notified Russia of the explosions at the site of the gas leak. The operator of Nord Stream, Nord Stream AG, reported that the state of emergency on gas pipelines was unprecedented, and it was impossible to estimate the timing of repairs.

The work of Nord Stream has been suspended since the end of August due to problems with the repair of Siemens turbines caused by Western sanctions. However, the pipeline remained filled with gas. Nord Stream 2, completed in 2021 but never put into operation, has also already been filled with gas.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation initiated the initiation of a case on an act of international terrorism after the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. First Deputy Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with sabotage against the Nord Stream gas pipeline was scheduled for 22.00 Moscow time on Friday.