Sweden Opts Out of Joint Probe Into Nord Stream Leak, Refuses to Share Findings, Citing National Security

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Sweden has opted out of a proposal to set up a formal joint investigation team with Denmark and Germany to investigate the recent leaks of the Russian-owned pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2.

Mats Ljungqvist, the Swedish prosecutor involved in the country’s criminal investigation of the leaks in the Swedish economic zone, told Reuters that the country would not join a Joint Investigation Team from the judicial co-operation agency Eurojust.

According to Eurojust, a Joint Investigation Team is “one of the most advanced tools used in international cooperation in criminal matters, comprising a legal agreement between competent authorities of two or more States for the purpose of carrying out criminal investigations.” Such teams are established for a fixed period that’s typically 12–24 months.

Doing so would mean that Sweden would have to share information from its own probe into the Nord Stream leaks that it has withheld saying the information is confidential. Ljungqvist told Reuters that the information subject to confidentiality is “directly linked to national security.”

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