Damage to gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea – Finland suspects foreign influence. National Council Committee wants to ban Hamas and investigate sanctions

Finland assumes that damage to a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea and a cable was caused by external influences.

“The damage to both the gas pipeline and the data cable was probably caused by outside activities.”Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Tuesday. “It is not yet known what exactly caused the damage.”

Pressure drop in the line

The affected Balticconnector pipeline runs between Finland and Estonia. The operating companies Gasgrid (Finland) and Elering (Estonia) noticed a sudden pressure drop in the pipeline early on Sunday morning. Gas transport between the two EU countries was subsequently interrupted. The operators have started an investigation. According to reports, the army and the secret service were also involved in the investigation.

“Due to the unusual pressure drop, there is a reasonable assumption that the cause of the incident was damage to the offshore gas pipeline and a resulting leak,” Gasgrid said on Tuesday. The gas leak is closed by insulating the section. The condition of the Finnish gas system is stable and the gas supply is assured through a floating LNG terminal. The terminal has sufficient capacity to supply the necessary gas even in winter.

Niinistö also spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the damage and reiterated that the incident had no impact on his country’s security of supply.

According to a preliminary assessment, the damage cannot be explained by normal use or pressure fluctuations, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at a press conference in Helsinki on Tuesday. It is likely that the leak is due to external influences.

The Finnish Criminal Investigation Department opened an investigation into the incident on Tuesday. When asked if there was any reason to suspect Russian involvement, Orpo dodged the question. The most important thing is that the matter is properly investigated. We live in difficult times, but there is no reason to worry.

Repairing the pipeline will now take several months, as officials estimated at the news conference. The deputy head of the Finnish Border Guard, Markku Hassinen, reported significant damage to the pipe. The damage appears to have been caused by an external actor. This information was forwarded to the criminal investigation department.

Russia responsible?

Orpo and Niinistö did not initially talk specifically about sabotage. However, according to information from radio station Yle, it is believed that it was not an accident. The newspaper Iltalehti even reported that the government and military suspected that Russia had attacked the line. This has not been confirmed by the government.

Balticconnector was put into use at the beginning of 2020. The approximately 150 kilometer long pipeline runs from Inkoo in Finland via the Gulf of Finland to Paldiski in Estonia; the affected offshore section in the sea is more than 77 kilometers long. It is significantly shorter than the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which were severely damaged in acts of sabotage near the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm about a year ago. It is still unclear who was behind the Nord Stream attacks.

Unlike the Nord Stream pipeline incidents, seismologists did not record any major explosions when the leak occurred. Heidi Soosalu from the Geological Survey in Estonia told Estonian Radio on Tuesday. A heavy storm over the weekend or damage to the line due to waves can be ruled out as possible causes, says Kalle Kiik, CEO of Elering.

In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022. About six months ago, the Nordic EU country was admitted to the defense alliance as the 31st member. It borders Russia for approximately 1,340 kilometers.

Increased monitoring of strategic infrastructure

Lithuania will step up monitoring of its strategic infrastructure after damage to the Baltic Sea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. The move was justified on Tuesday by the National Crisis Management Center in Vilnius with information the EU and NATO country had received from international partners.

Possible further decisions will be discussed on Wednesday at a meeting where additional information from Lithuanian security authorities will be discussed.

(sda/dpa)