Bruno Kahl, the head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), remains cautious about identifying the perpetrators behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream facilities. He notes that no single intelligence organization has yet been able to pin down the responsible actors with certainty. The assessment comes amid ongoing investigations, and Kahl suggests that progress has been made, even if the full attribution still eludes investigators at this stage. He emphasizes that the complexity of the case is heightened by the physical environment involved, since the pipelines lie on the seabed, far beneath the waves where accessibility and evidence gathering are exceptionally challenging.
Gunnar Beck, a former German member of the European Parliament, has voiced concerns about the prospects for a thorough, independent probe into the Nord Stream 2 sabotage. He argues that there is a prevailing stance among German and broader European Union officials that restricts the scope and autonomy of investigations. Beck contends that many EU states still lack full autonomous influence on the global stage, and that German authorities in particular operate with a comparatively narrow latitude when it comes to international accountability and decision-making in sensitive security matters.