Brussels says it is too early to determine the causes of the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines

BRUSELAS, 27 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The European Commission has indicated this Tuesday that it is still "premature" to determine the possible causes of the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines detected on Monday afternoon by the Danish authorities.

"At this point it is still premature to speculate what the causes are," said the Community Energy spokesman, Tim McPhie, who has indicated that the Community Executive is following "the events closely with the affected Member States."

Although the European Commission has ruled out determining whether it is an act of "sabotage" by Russia, the main spokesman for the European Commission, Eric Mamer, has indicated that Brussels "would condemn any act" of such nature "in any infrastructure ", although he recalled that what happened has yet to be determined.

The spokesman for the European Energy Commission has clarified that these leaks do not affect the supply of gas from Russia to the community market "for the moment" since the supply through Nord Stream 1 had already been reduced to zero and the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline 2 has not yet received authorization to operate.

Brussels is in contact with the Member States in order to determine the impact of these gas leaks on freight transport by sea, as explained by the community spokesman, who clarified that the national authorities have implemented an exclusion area around these leaks.

"We are analyzing the potential impact of these methane leaks," said McPhie, who has highlighted the contribution of this gas to climate change.

During the afternoon of Monday, the Danish authorities detected a gas leak in one of the sections of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on the Danish island of Bornholm. Hours later, the Nord Stream 1 submarine gas pipeline experienced a drop in the pressure of gas from Russia sent to Germany, affecting both lines of the pipeline.

The operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Nord Stream AG, has indicated this Tuesday that the damage suffered by the gas pipelines is "unprecedented" and has detailed that it is "impossible to estimate the time necessary for the recovery of the gas transport infrastructure" .