The explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were a terrorist attack involving professional military personnel, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a program on national public television station STV.
“This is clearly a terrorist sabotage operation, which must have involved the most professional military units,” the prime minister said. Mr Fico added that the Nord Stream explosion raises the question of whether there is something larger than Ukraine itself at the core of the Ukrainian conflict.
Prime Minister Fico noted that a group of people "loitering near the Druzhba oil pipeline and monitoring the pipeline with drones" was recently detected in Slovakia and this incident was discussed at the Slovak State Security Council.
"I would not be surprised if someone attacked our gas pipelines or oil pipelines to stop the import of raw materials from the east, and instead promote supplies coming from the west," Prime Minister Fico said.
The Druzhba pipeline carries Russian oil to landlocked Central European countries. In early December, Slovakian officials warned that an “organized group” operating in Slovakia and Hungary was conducting “field surveys” in the vicinity of the pipeline. These activities could indicate “possible preparations for a terrorist attack” against critical infrastructure in both countries.
Built in the 1960s, the Druzhba oil pipeline stretches some 4,000km, connecting Russian and Kazakh oil suppliers to consumers in Europe. The pipeline branches off in Belarus, with the northern section going to Poland and Germany, and the southern section going to Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Regarding the Nord Stream sabotage, Prime Minister Robert Fico said in early September that the Slovak media was avoiding reporting on the incident despite reports that Ukraine may have been involved.
"Why is the Slovak media not reporting on the Nord Stream attacks? How is that possible? We all know what happened and who did it. There is information that a group of Ukrainians blew up the pipeline. This is an attack on strategic energy infrastructure with serious consequences. Why are we not talking about it? Well, because it is Ukraine," Prime Minister Fico told the Saturday Dialogues television program on September 7.
