BERLIN, August 25. /TASS/. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for bringing swift justice for the perpetrators in the case of sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
"I hope the Attorney General finds enough evidence to charge the perpetrators," Faeser said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine.
"They must be held accountable for these crimes. It would also strengthen citizens' belief in the justice system if such complex issues can be cleared up," the minister stressed, answering a question about whether investigators will be able to find out who was behind the explosions at Nord Stream.
Commenting on reports suggesting the criminals are connected with Ukraine, the German Interior Minister did not say what the political consequences would be if this suspicion was confirmed.
"The trial is under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General. I cannot give an assessment until the investigation is completed," she explained.
Commenting on the information that foreign intelligence services warned Germany about a possible attack on the pipelines in the summer of 2022 and the German government should have taken precautions, Faeser said "she does not know about such information." However, she noted, from the very beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, "it was clear that the risks to critical infrastructure - including in Germany - had increased significantly."
"Therefore, we immediately strengthened protection measures, for example in the field of cybersecurity," Faeser said, recalling that in July she introduced a bill to protect critical infrastructure.
Earlier, the ZDF TV channel reported that sources familiar with the investigation of the sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines claim that all signs point to Ukraine. According to the TV channel, there is growing evidence that criminals associated with Ukraine may be behind the explosions at the Nord Stream. Officially, the Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany is continuing the investigation. However, according to ZDF and Der Spiegel, sources familiar with the probe find the Ukrainian scenario particularly compelling.
On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipelines, reported "unprecedented destruction" that occurred "on three strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines." On September 26, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on offshore routes of the pipelines. After that, Russia’s Prosecutor General's Office opened a case on an act of international terrorism.