Leaks found in the Baltic Sea from the Nord Stream gas pipeline were clearly caused by deliberate actions and could not be the result of accidents, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Mette FrederiksenPhoto: Mads Claus Rasmussen / AFP / Profimedia

“The authorities now clearly assess that these were deliberate actions. It was not an accident,” Mette Frederiksen said at a press conference in Copenhagen.

“So far, there is no information that would indicate who could be behind this action,” she said, adding that authorities do not see the incidents as a direct military threat to Denmark.

Europe is investigating major gas leaks from two Russian pipelines in the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, while Sweden has launched a preliminary investigation into possible sabotage. The spill, first reported on Monday, was in international waters but in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark and Sweden.

Danish authorities are assessing the damage caused by the explosions, Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen said at a briefing. He added that the size of the holes in the pipes indicated that the leaks could not have been caused by an accident such as an anchor strike.

The damaged pipelines are 70-90 meters below sea level, Jorgensen said.

Mette Frederiksen was at the opening of the Baltic Pipe on Tuesday, where she said it was “hard to imagine” that the three simultaneous leaks from the two underwater gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Baltic Sea were “accidental”.