The investigations into suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea, have barely begun. In a viral tweet shared almost 3,000 times, one user points out that “the investigations being conducted by NATO are not neutral”. Another post explains that “it is ultimately NATO that will lead the investigation into the NordStream sabotage, while the body of evidence would point to American or NATO intervention.” And concludes: “We cannot say that this is a team that can produce an objective report. »
Screenshot of a viral tweet declaring that “the NATO probe is not neutral”. – Screenshot/Twitter
From a sequence on LCI dated October 4, 2022, this statement went particularly viral. In the program “24h Pujadas”, former Brigadier General Henri Pinard-Legry commented on the conduct of the investigation: “Sweden wants to join NATO, Denmark is in. […] There, NATO will be conducting an investigation, while the evidence beam would point us more towards an American, or at least NATO, intervention. »
NOT CORRECT
However, NATO does not have jurisdiction to investigate the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It is carried out jointly by the services of neighboring countries: Sweden, Germany and Denmark. As a reminder, NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a political and military alliance of 30 countries aiming to “ensure the security of its members”, Germany and Denmark are part of it and Sweden has asked to join in June 2022 , a strategic shift related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On request, the Federal Ministry of the Interior informed us of the system: According to EU law, a joint team of investigators from the three countries was formed. “We must uncover the facts behind this major attack on a European energy infrastructure,” urged German Home Secretary Nancy Feaser in an emailed statement, which called for “the combined expertise of the naval, police and intelligence services.
With Poland, these three countries have also decided to strengthen and coordinate their maritime patrols to “maximize our presence at sea,” adds the German interior minister.
NATO will exchange information
When asked about their involvement in the investigation, NATO referred us to “the national authorities concerned”. And to the remarks made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a September 30 press conference. He assured that the allies would defend their strategic infrastructure and participate in the ongoing investigation to “determine who is behind these attacks”.
This cooperation will take the form of information sharing through data collected from the ships or aircraft of Alliance member countries located in the area. “We will intensify our information sharing,” Jens Stoltenberg said, specifically information gathered by NATO’s Unified Maritime Command (Marcom) in Northwood, UK. “We are also reviewing some of the data that has been collected over the past few weeks and months to see if we can uncover anything related to the attacks on the two pipelines,” he added.