BERLIN, Oct. 2 (DPA/EP) -
The German Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, stated this Sunday that his country is considering the possibility of opening a criminal investigation into the case of the explosions that produced several leaks this week in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
"It is possible that a criminal offense has been committed for which the Federal Prosecutor could take the accusation," Buschmann told the Sunday newspaper 'Bild am Sonntag'.
The sources of explosion are in the Baltic Sea, in the territorial waters of Denmark and Sweden, but the pipes connect Russia with Germany.
"It would then possibly be a case of sabotage (of a) unconstitutional nature with repercussions for Germany. The crime of causing an explosive detonation is also a possibility," he added.
If the suspicion is confirmed, he added, the main issue would be cooperation with other states, especially with the European Union (EU). "The goal would be to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice in Germany," he explained.
Under the German criminal code, unconstitutional sabotage carries a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.
The incident began on Monday night, when a sharp drop in pressure was detected in one of the two pipes of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is not in use. Later, the operator of Nord Stream 1 reported a drop in pressure also in its two pipelines. The authorities ended up discovering a total of four leaks in both gas pipelines. The EU and NATO assume that it is sabotage.
Denmark and Sweden said in a statement Thursday that at least two underwater explosions had been detected. It detailed that seismological institutes had measured a magnitude of 2.3 and 2.1, which "probably corresponds to explosive charges of several hundred kilograms."
Nord Stream 1 and 2 are two twin pipelines that run from Russia across the Baltic Sea to the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and have similar capacity.
The Nord Stream 2 travels 1,230 kilometers. It has been completed and filled with gas, but gas has never been imported through it, pending approval for its entry into service by the competent authority in Germany, the Federal Network Agency.
The Nord Stream 1 was in service until, at various stages since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the supply was reduced until it was suspended due to technical problems, as justified by the Russian gas company Gazprom.