Swedish prosecution likely to conclude Nord Stream pipelines investigation amid unidentified suspects
The same German media outlets, as quoted by dw.com, convey that Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor heading the investigation into the assault on the Nord Stream pipelines, plans on ceasing the proceedings. The same rationale is reiterated, "Most likely, the Swedish authorities were not able to identify any specific suspects in their country," we learn. This decision is anticipated in the upcoming days.
Will the Swedish investigation into Nord Stream be dropped?
Meanwhile, the investigation carried out by the German prosecutor's office will persist simultaneously. The local services show a keen interest in the broken pipe fragments, which the Swedish military recouped from the Baltic Sea shortly after the confirmations of explosions in the fall of 2022, as reported by "Sueddeutsche Zeitung."
The investigators aim to juxtapose the traces of explosives identified therein with those found by German officers on the Andromeda yacht. The German authorities say these findings are the "strongest indicator that could lead to the perpetrators."
Based on the German prosecutor's discoveries, it seems plausible that Andromeda was contracted by a Ukrainian citizen in September 2022 and paid for from the accounts of a Polish company, also owned by a Ukrainian.
The six-person crew of the yacht embarked on their journey from Rostock, Germany. "Suspicion arises that a group of divers may have planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream pipelines. The yacht made multiple stops at the Danish island of Christiansø, Sandhamn in Sweden, and Kołobrzeg in Poland," according to the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" announcement.
Germany and Sweden undertook rigorous information exchanges throughout the investigation. The Swedish prosecutor visited the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, Germany, while German investigators recently visited Stockholm to discuss evidence reachable for the ongoing German investigation.
"Unlike the Swedes, Poland has continuously impeded collaboration with German investigators," as "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" highlights.
Despite repeated inquiries, the Polish authorities have shared minimal information with their German counterparts, and that too, after significant delays. Up till now, Poland seems to have withheld any surveillance footage from the port in Kołobrzeg, which might provide fresh insight about the crew of the Andromeda, the newspaper added.
The investigation conducted by the German Attorney General's Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) addresses the intentional explosion as an act of sabotage against state security.
