Denmark closes probe into Nord Stream blasts saying there’s not enough grounds for a criminal case

By The Associated Press on February 26, 2024.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Denmark on Monday joined Sweden in closing its investigation into the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines, saying that “authorities can conclude that there was deliberate sabotage.”

“However, the assessment is that there is not the sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark,” Copenhagen police and the Danish security service, who carried out the investigation together, said in a joint statement.

The underwater detonations on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany, occurred in international waters but within Swedish and Danish economic zones. Sweden earlier said that a state actor was the most likely culprit.

Denmark’s investigation was one of three into the explosions.

Sweden spiked its probe on Feb. 7 on the grounds that “Swedish jurisdiction does not apply,” saying the investigation’s primary purpose was to establish whether Sweden or its citizens somehow were involved. Swedish officials also said they handed over to Germany “material that can be used as evidence in the German investigation.”

Germany still needs to make public its conclusions on the detonations.

The source of the explosions has been a major international mystery.

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