The Security Council rejects the international investigation requested by Russia in the Nord Stream case
UN Security Council
The UN Security Council rejected a request from Russia to establish an “independent international commission of inquiry” into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022. The resolution asks the UN Secretary General to establish this commission to “conduct a full, transparent, and impartial international investigation into all aspects of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, including the identification of the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers, and accomplices”. Russia justified its request by claiming that it was excluded from the investigations launched by Sweden, Germany, and Denmark, which rejected this accusation, writes Le Monde. “We have serious doubts (…) regarding the objectivity and transparency of the national investigations carried out by certain European states”, underlined on Monday Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassili Nebenzia, who also invoked “suspicions” of actions taken in the context of the investigations for “hiding evidence and cleaning up the crime scene.” Many members of the UN Security Council rejected the idea of an international commission. They believe that the three countries are capable of leading the investigations and that Russia is only trying to distract attention from its invasion of Ukraine.
There are still no clear answers after the explosions that rocked the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022. The damage could have been caused by premeditated attacks with underwater explosives, but investigations carried out in several countries have not yet been completed. In the immediate aftermath of the sabotage, the international community pointed an accusing finger at Russia, with the Kremlin hitting back and saying that Britain and/or the US were behind the alleged terror attack. Among the countries that appeared in this “scheme” is Ukraine, so that the “actors” placed in the middle of this equation are, for now, four. Russia, the USA, Great Britain, and Ukraine German prosecutors who investigated the case announced that the damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 was caused by sabotage; a similar conclusion has been made public by Swedish prosecutors. However, it has not been concretely conveyed who could have been behind these explosions, as there is no indubitable evidence. The Swedish prosecutor’s office confirmed in November that at the “crime scene”, on the bottom of the sea, explosive residues were discovered, as well as several “foreign objects”, approximately 100 meters below the surface of the Baltic Sea, close to the Danish island of Bornholm. The publications New York Times and Die Zeit launched the hypothesis that a pro-Ukrainian group, not necessarily supported by Ukraine, would have planned the sabotage. The German prosecutor’s office, on the other hand, according to the latest information from the investigation, confirmed that a ship was searched in January 2023 on the suspicion that it was carrying explosives used in sabotage. The German investigators also specified that the confiscated objects, the identities of the alleged perpetrators, and the reasons that would have been the basis of the sabotage action are still being investigated.
By Paul Bumman
