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Bulgaria under Potential Threat of an Attack against "Turkish Stream" on its Territory

Politics » DEFENSE | October 25, 2022, Tuesday // 12:17

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Bulgaria: Bulgaria under Potential Threat of an Attack against "Turkish Stream" on its Territory

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As a country through which the Turkish Stream gas pipeline (TurkStream) passes, Bulgaria is in potential danger after the Nord Stream 1 and 2 explosions. This was indicated at the extraordinary meeting in the energy section of the Council of the European Union on Transport, Telecommunications and Energy on September 30, according to a transcript of the meeting of the Bulgarian government last week.

"Within the so-called other issues, the incident with the explosions on ‘Nord Stream - 1 and 2’ was discussed, the main opinion was formed on the fact that this incident was probably targeted, and accordingly opinions were expressed in connection with the security of such infrastructure, as Bulgaria was specifically mentioned as a country through which ‘Turkish Stream’ passes and a potential danger," Energy Minister Rosen Hristov told his colleagues.

He informed that after the report, a meeting of the Crisis Staff was immediately held, at which the problem was discussed. Among the measures identified is conducting a stress test of infrastructure protection systems in Bulgaria. After that, if necessary, other measures will be taken.

The announcement did not provoke questions and statements of the other ministers.

The three pipes of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany were "unprecedentedly destroyed" at the end of September, and the police of Sweden, in whose waters the explosion took place, opened an investigation into a crime that, according to the definition in the initial protocol, was "gross sabotage". This made “Turkish Stream”, passing through Bulgaria, the only working line for the import of Russian gas by pipeline to Europe. Two weeks later, Russian President Vladimir Putin formulated the idea of creating a gas hub in Turkey as an alternative to the "lost volume of transit through Nord Stream" in order to "make the main delivery routes of our natural gas to Europe through Turkey".