HELSINKI – The leak in an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was probably caused by ‘external activity’. This was reported by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. Suspicions of sabotage had already been expressed earlier.

On Sunday, the Finnish gas system operator Gasgrid and Elering, an Estonian electricity and gas operator, discovered an unusual drop in pressure in a pipeline between Finland and Estonia.

A telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia also suffered damage. The location of the outage has been identified, the Finnish government said on Tuesday.

“I spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. NATO stands ready to assist in the investigation,” President Niinisto said.

Finnish operator Gasgrid said it could take months or longer to repair the leak.

(C)DE TELEGRAAF.NL 2023