Denmark refuses to help Germany investigate Nord Stream explosions
Unlike Sweden and Poland, Denmark has refused to help Germany investigate the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Source: European Pravda, citing Danish broadcaster DR, which reviewed the German indictment in the Nord Stream case
Quote from German prosecutors: "The Danish authorities refused to conduct an investigation on the islands of Bornholm and Christiansø because of a possible threat to national security."
Details: The document says that when German investigators wanted to question port captains and yacht owners who may have seen the yacht allegedly used by those responsible for the sabotage in mid-September 2022, the Danish authorities refused to assist Germany's Federal Police.
According to the indictment, the Copenhagen public prosecutor's office rejected the request on 14 February 2024.
Danish experts interviewed by DR agree that Denmark's refusal to assist an ally appears unusual, as legal cooperation between the two countries has so far been close.
Meanwhile, law professor Birgit Feldtmann noted that although the refusal is "unusual", Copenhagen has the legal right to reject a request for legal assistance, including from other EU countries and close allies such as Germany.
"Such a request can be rejected, in particular on the grounds that it could jeopardise Denmark's interests. That is a lawful basis," she said.
Background:
- On 19 August, Ukrainian national Volodymyr Zhuravliov, whom Germany suspects of involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage, was detained in Croatia while filming a Hollywood film about the operation.
- Another Ukrainian suspect in the case, Serhii Kuznetsov, is already in custody in Germany. He was detained while on holiday in Italy last summer.
- At the end of June, Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office published an official statement announcing charges against him, stating that Kuznetsov and other members of the group had acted as Ukrainian military personnel.
- On 21 August, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Germany should not hold those suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines criminally liable.
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