Baltic pipe probe: Finnish leader happy China cooperating, but says ‘case is not closed’
- Petteri Orpo was reacting to Beijing’s claim that a Chinese ship had accidentally cut a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia
He was responding to a question about the admission that a Chinese-owned ship had accidentally destroyed the Balticconnector gas pipe running between Finland and Estonia last October, first reported by the South China Morning Post on Monday.
“Finnish and Estonian authorities are working in cooperation with Chinese authorities on this matter,” Orpo said, but added that he could not offer more detail because the “investigation is not closed”.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal in Helsinki on Wednesday, he also said: “I’m also happy that China and Chinese authorities have been cooperating, but we cannot do any conclusions before we have the investigation. But I promise that when the investigation is ready, we will tell all.”
China recently sent the two countries the results of an internal investigation, which said the NewNew Polar Bear cargo ship had damaged the pipeline, but it was an accident that happened during a storm.
While the Chinese-language account was shared with the two countries, but is not admissible as evidence in an ongoing criminal probe led by the Finnish authorities.
