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CIA warned Germany about potential attacks on Nord Stream pipelines: report

28.09.2022 19:00
The US Central Intelligence Agency had cautioned Germany about possible attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia weeks before leaks were discovered in the two pipelines in the Baltic Sea, according to media reports. 
A gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline off Bornholm, Denmark, in the Baltic Sea, as seen on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
A gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline off Bornholm, Denmark, in the Baltic Sea, as seen on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.PAP/EPA/Danish Defence Command

News of such US warnings was first reported by German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, Poland’s biznesalert.pl website said on Wednesday.  

CIA warnings

According to Der Spiegel, the CIA told the German government that the two Russia-to-Germany gas arteries running under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, could be the subject of an attack. 

The CIA’s warning came weeks before three mysterious leaks were detected in the two pipelines on Monday, Der Spiegel reported, as cited by biznesalert.pl.   

The Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) said it had detected two "strong underwater explosions" on Monday, in the area where the Nord Stream leaks had been discovered, according to news outlets.

Investigating Nord Stream leaks

Investigations into the leaks were ongoing in Denmark and Sweden, the two countries closest to the incident sites, politico.eu reported. 

Gas prices

Meanwhile, gas prices on the European market surged by 17 percent on the news of the Nord Stream rupture, biznesalert.pl reported. 

Dutch TTF natural gas futures, the European benchmark, topped EUR 200 for the first time in almost two weeks early on Wednesday, before falling back to EUR 198, according to businessinsider.com.

Baltic Pipe

The Nord Stream leaks, which happened close to the Danish island of Bornholm, were reported on Tuesday, coinciding with the launch of the Baltic Pipe gas link.

The Baltic Pipe is designed to bring gas to Poland from Norway via Denmark, providing an alternative to Russian supplies.

Deliberate act?

These circumstances have led many European politicians, including Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, to suggest that the Nord Stream leaks represented “a deliberate attack,” or “an act of sabotage,” biznesalert.pl reported.

The underlying context has also fueled speculation that Russia was behind the Nord Stream rupture, the website said.

EU vows to step up protection of energy infrastructure

Also on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the Nord Stream leaks “sabotage action.”

She said in a tweet: “Spoke to Danish PM Mette Frederiksen on the sabotage action #Nordstream. Paramount to now investigate the incidents, get full clarity on events & why.”

Von der Leyen added: “Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable & will lead to the strongest possible response.” 

Her words were echoed by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who announced that the bloc would strengthen the protection of its energy facilities following the leaks, the Reuters news agency reported.

"We will support any investigation aimed at getting full clarity on what happened and why, and will take further steps to increase our resilience in energy security," Borrell said, as cited by Reuters.

Wednesday was day 217 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: biznesalert.pl, Reuters, euractiv.com, politico.eubusinessinsider.com