STOCKHOLM—Sweden on Feb. 7 dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case, but had handed evidence it had uncovered over to German investigators.
The multibillion-dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
“We have a picture of what has happened, and what that picture consists of we cannot go into more detail, but it leads to the conclusion that we do not have jurisdiction,” Swedish public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist told Reuters. “It is not Sweden’s task to continue this investigation.”
Mr. Ljungqvist said the main task had been to establish whether Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in the attack, which he said had taken place in international waters.
“The answer to that question is ‘no’ and there is nothing in this case that poses any risk to Sweden’s security now that we have seen how things stand,” he said.
Mr. Ljungqvist said that while the investigation had been extensive and the findings shared with German investigators, secrecy laws prevented him from making the evidence public.
Denmark and Germany are carrying out separate investigations. A German government spokesperson said Berlin is still interested in solving the case.
Danish police said on Feb. 7 that they expect to provide more information on their investigation “within a short time.”
In July, Germany told the U.N. Security Council it had found traces of subsea explosives on a sailing yacht that may have been used to transport the explosives and that trained divers may have attached the explosives to the pipelines.
Russia has blamed the United States, Britain, and Ukraine for the blasts, which largely cut it off from the lucrative European market. Those countries have denied involvement.
Some Western officials have said Russian military vessels were in the area at the time of the explosions, but others have said there is no hard evidence to implicate Russia, which called the suggestion it was behind the attacks “absurd.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 7 that Russia would now watch what Germany would do to investigate the explosions.
“Of course, now we need to see how Germany itself reacts to this, as a country that has lost a lot in relation to this terrorist attack.”
