The Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) allegedly told the CIA that Ukraine planned to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, just days after Belgian media reported the CIA told their secret services that Ukraine was behind it.
After the attacks in late September 2022, during which mysterious explosions hit the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 connecting Germany and Russia, several countries were accused of involvement, including Poland, the US, Russia and Ukraine.
However, MIVD allegedly tipped off US intelligence about Ukraine’s plans to carry out an attack on the pipelines months before the actual attack, according to investigations carried out by NOS, together with ARD and Die Zeit, uncovered. According to the investigation, the attacks were originally to take place in June 2022 with the help of a rented boat.
Furthermore, they report that Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra would have known about it.
“I suspect the outcome of the investigation is an uncomfortable truth,” an insider source stated.
Ollongren refused to comment on the allegations as long as investigations into the attacks by Germany and Denmark are still pending. The MIVD, likewise, also abstained from commenting.
The news comes just days after Belgian news media De Tijd had reported that the CIA had allegedly told Belgian secret services that they suspect Ukraine of being behind the attack. A week prior, the Washington Post had revealed that the CIA had been tipped off on possible Ukrainian plans to blow up the pipeline by “a European intelligence service” – now seeming to be confirmed as the Dutch MIVD.
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the attacks might have been planned in Poland, an allegation currently being investigated by Germany.
In June, former Dutch diplomat Kees Klompenhouwer accused consecutive Dutch governments of ignoring Russia’s abuse of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline as a method to “infiltrate” the Netherlands for its espionage activities.
(Benedikt Stöckl | EURACTIV.com)
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