Swedish Nord Stream investigation 'could be shelved on Wednesday'
Sweden is preparing to shelve its investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, German newspapers have reported, with the Swedish prosecutor promising an announcement on Wednesday.
According to an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Sweden's is set to close down its investigation without identifying any suspects, citing a lack of evidence.
After the article was published, the Swedish prosecutor's office issued a short press release, confirming that the prosecutor in the case, Mats Ljungqvist, planned to announce a decision on Wednesday, but given no details of what would be announced.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which took gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, began leaking heavily on September 22nd 2022, with seismic laboratories in Sweden and Denmark picking up signs of explosions. Underwater investigations then proved that the piplines had been sabotaged.
Sweden then launched an investigation into gross sabotage as one of the pipelines runs through its special economic zone.
In an interview with the New York Times in January last year, Ljungqvist said he had never believed that Russia was responsible for blowing up the pipelines, which were 51 percent owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
"Do I believe that it was Russia who blew up Nord Stream? I have never thought that. It's not logical," he said. "But just like in a murder investigation, you can't rule anything out."
Articles have been published by both German and US newspapers which have pinned the blame on the Ukrainian military.
According to Germany's Die Zeit newspaper, the end of the Swedish investigation could even help Germany prosecutors, as it would free the Swedish authorities to hand over any evidence they have gathered to their German colleagues.
The newspaper reports that German prosecutors want access to the ruptured pipes that Swedish military recovered, so they can compared traces of explosives on the pipeline with those found on the Andromeda, the sailing yacht that German prosecutors suspect on involvement in the attacks.
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According to an article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Sweden's is set to close down its investigation without identifying any suspects, citing a lack of evidence.
After the article was published, the Swedish prosecutor's office issued a short press release, confirming that the prosecutor in the case, Mats Ljungqvist, planned to announce a decision on Wednesday, but given no details of what would be announced.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which took gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, began leaking heavily on September 22nd 2022, with seismic laboratories in Sweden and Denmark picking up signs of explosions. Underwater investigations then proved that the piplines had been sabotaged.
Sweden then launched an investigation into gross sabotage as one of the pipelines runs through its special economic zone.
In an interview with the New York Times in January last year, Ljungqvist said he had never believed that Russia was responsible for blowing up the pipelines, which were 51 percent owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
"Do I believe that it was Russia who blew up Nord Stream? I have never thought that. It's not logical," he said. "But just like in a murder investigation, you can't rule anything out."
Articles have been published by both German and US newspapers which have pinned the blame on the Ukrainian military.
According to Germany's Die Zeit newspaper, the end of the Swedish investigation could even help Germany prosecutors, as it would free the Swedish authorities to hand over any evidence they have gathered to their German colleagues.
The newspaper reports that German prosecutors want access to the ruptured pipes that Swedish military recovered, so they can compared traces of explosives on the pipeline with those found on the Andromeda, the sailing yacht that German prosecutors suspect on involvement in the attacks.
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