Nord Stream sabotage linked to Ukrainian-owned yacht

German investigators have reportedly identified a boat they believe was used in the sabotage attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, a report in the Die Zeit newspaper has claimed, based on a joint investigation with the broadcasters ARD and SWR. 

According to the report, a group of five men and one woman rented the yacht from a Polish-based company with Ukrainian owners. The six people used false passports and their nationality is unknown.

Traces of explosives have been found on the yacht, which set sail from the German city of Rostock on September 6th, 20 days before the explosions which destroyed the two pipelines. 

“The traces lead in the direction of Ukraine,” Die Zeit wrote in its article. “However, investigators have not yet found any evidence as to who ordered the destruction.” 

The newspaper said that, “according to its information”, a western intelligence service had tipped off its European partners in the autumn that a Ukrainian commando unit was responsible for the attack. 

When confronted with the reports, Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack. The country, presidential adviser Mychajlo Podoljak told ARD, “of course had nothing to do with the attacks on Nord Stream-2”. There was, he said, “no confirmation that Ukrainian officials or the military took part in this operation or that people were dispatched to act on their behalf.”

It was still conceivable that Russia was behind it, he said. “There are many more motives and many more uses in this scenario.” 

Danish vocab: oplysningerne: the information

Police in Denmark warn that icy roads could cause accidents

Police across Denmark were warning on Wednesday morning of icy conditions which have caused several minor accidents in both Zealand and Jutland. 

Henrik Olesen, from the police in Zealand said there had been an accident in Jyderup on the Vestmotorvejen (E23), and a couple of other accidents elsewhere. 

“These are minor accidents where people have driven into the guardrail or slid out,” he told the Ritzau newswire.

The police in South East Jutland reported that four or five accidents had taken place during the night, none of them serious.

In North Zealand, the Helsingørmotorvejen (E47) between Copenhagen and Helsingør was closed in the early morning due to slippery conditions, but has since been reopened after salting.

Danish vocab: alvorligt – serious

Denmark slams other countries for ‘total embarrassment’ of climate fund failure

Denmark, an active foreign aid donor, on Tuesday slammed as a “total embarrassment” the fact rich nations have failed to raise a promised $100 billion a year to help poor countries battle climate change.

Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s development minister, told the UN Least Developed Countries summit that “trillions” would be needed in coming decades to control the fallout from rising temperatures.

The impact of a heating planet on the world’s 46 poorest nations has been a key topic at the summit in Doha that ends Thursday.

Least developed countries account for four percent of polluting emissions but suffer more than two thirds of deaths from floods, storms and other climate related disasters, according to Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“It is a total embarrassment that the developed world has not yet delivered on the $100 billion that was promised in 2009,” Jørgensen said.

Danish immigration agency fires staff member for misuse of database

The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) has fired a member of staff and reported them to police after discovering they looked up data of up to 3,300 individuals without authorisation.

SIRI, which processes applications for Danish work and residence permits on behalf of the immigration ministry, released a press statement on Tuesday relating to the matter.

The agency was last autumn contacted by a member of the public who said that a staff member at SIRI had accessed their information without authorisation.

Following this, SIRI identified the employee in question in November 2022.

This resulted in confirmation that the person had searched for information and accessed data which were unconnected to their job role.

The information included personal registration (CPR) numbers, income details, family relations and decisions on immigration cases.

Danish vocab: uautoriseret – unauthorised