Swedish conservative and populist parties have expressed opposition to allowing the repair of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines as Swedish investigators have confirmed they were damaged by explosions.
As the damage to the pipelines took place in Danish and Swedish waters, permission will likely be required from both governments in order to repair the damage done by the alleged sabotage late last month.
However, members of the right-wing alliance set to take power after last month’s elections have spoken out against allowing the pipelines to be fixed, including the Christian Democrats and the populist Sweden Democrats, broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.
Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist announced earlier this week that he has ordered the area around the pipeline leak closed, saying: “I understand the great public interest, but we are at the beginning of a preliminary investigation and I therefore cannot go into details about which investigative measures we are taking.”
The Swedish security police Sapo, with the support of the Coast Guard, the Armed Forces, and the Police Authority, have begun investigations into the pipeline leak. On Thursday, prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist announced that indications point to deliberate sabotage.
“We can state that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone,” the prosecutor said.
Sapo also released a statement on the investigation, saying: “After completing the crime scene investigation, the Swedish Security Police can conclude that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone, which have caused extensive damage to the gas pipelines.”
“The Security Police considers what has happened in the Baltic Sea to be very serious. The Security Police is following developments closely and taking the necessary measures based on the authority’s mission to protect Sweden and Sweden’s security,” Sapo added.
Whether or not the Nord Stream leaks will be fixed remains unclear as operator Nord Stream 2 AG, which is controlled by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, claimed that Danish and Swedish authorities were preventing them from conducting their own investigation.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.