EU Should Protect Infrastructure After Nord Stream Sabotage, Parliament Head Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A speculation on the issue of responsibility for the Nord Stream incident should be avoided and the EU member states need to focus on proper preparation to protect their regional infrastructure in case of contingencies, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Friday.

"Without speculating, I would say, without creating panic, we have to wait to see who the culprits were. But I also think that we need to be better prepared for activities such as these in our sees, not only in the Baltic Sea but also elsewhere. And for that we are going to be the ones who are waiting and asking for the results to be seen," Metsola said ahead of the informal EU summit on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Prague.

On September 26, a rapid gas pressure drop and leakage were registered on gas pipelines of the Russian-led Nord Stream network that runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. According to Sweden, Germany and Denmark, the incidents could be a result of sabotage. The operator, Nord Stream AG, said it was impossible to estimate a time frame for repair work.

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark September 27, 2022

© Photo : Danish Defence Command/Forsvaret Ritzau Scanpix

On September 30, the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on Nord Stream pipelines. While all members of the council condemned the suspected sabotage as unacceptable, Russia later ended up rejected from partaking in the international investigation of the incident.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has been investigating the pipeline incidents as acts of international terrorism.