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WORLD NEWS Friday 2 december 2022
Spain: numerous devices found after Ukrainian Embassy blast

By CIARÁN GILES said the parcel looked sus-
Associated Press picious to the secretary of
MADRID (AP) — Police in the ambassador because
Spain detonated a suspi- there was no return ad-
cious parcel discovered at dress and it did not look like
the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, a typical diplomatic post.
Spanish officials said Thurs- “The package contained
day, a day after a similar a box, which caused suspi-
package sent to the Ukrai- cion to the commandant
nian Embassy ignited upon and he decided to take it
opening and injured an outside with no one in the
employee. vicinity and open it. After
“We can confirm a suspi- opening the box and hear-
cious package was re- ing a click that followed,
ceived at the U.S. Embassy he tossed it and then heard
in Madrid, and are aware the explosion,” said the
of reports of other pack- ambassador.
ages sent to other locations The embassy employ-
throughout Spain,” the ee was treated for light
American embassy said in wounds on his hand and
a response to an Associ- later returned to work.
ated Press inquiry. Ukrainian Foreign Minister
“We are grateful to Spanish Dmytro Kuleba ordered
law enforcement for their Police officers stand guard as other officers in yellow vests walk back at the cordoned off area stepped-up security at all
assistance with this matter,” next to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Associated Press of Ukraine’s foreign embas-
it added. sies abroad and asked his
Spain’s police said the det- Ukraine. area was cordoned off by sent to the Ukrainian Em- Spanish counterpart for a
onated parcel “contained Authorities said a bomb Spanish police around the bassy was addressed to fast investigation.
substances similar to those squad also destroyed an embassy in the center of the country’s ambassador Two further Ukrainian em-
used in pyrotechnics.” explosive device that was Spain’s capital. to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev. bassies received threaten-
The action followed police dispatched by regular post Spanish authorities have The employee handling it ing letters on Wednesday,
reporting that multiple ex- to Spanish Prime Minister yet to determine who was was slightly injured when it Kuleba said on the side-
plosive parcels were sent Pedro Sánchez on Nov. 24. responsible for the letters burst into flames. lines of a high-level security
in Spain over the past two Spain’s interior ministry, or link them to the war in In an interview Wednesday meeting in Lodz, Poland, on
days. Police said they were which is charge of the coun- Ukraine. The Russian Em- following the blast, ambas- Thursday. Kuleba added,
delivered to Spain’s De- try’s police forces, said that bassy in Madrid on Thurs- sador Pohoreltsev told Euro- without giving details, that
fense Ministry, a European the envelope intercepted day condemned the letter pean Pravda, a news web- “other disturbing events
Union satellite center lo- at the American embassy’s bombs, saying in a tweet site linked to the Ukrainska took place” on Wednes-
cated at the Torrejón de security screening point that “any threat or terror- Pravda newspaper, that day, involving “the sending
Ardoz air base outside Ma- was “of similar characteris- ist attack, especially those the explosion could have of very concrete threats to
drid and to an arms factory tics as the previous ones.” directed at diplomatic been more serious but for Ukrainian embassies.” He
in northeastern Spain that It was then detonated by missions, are totally con- the professional behavior declined to specify the em-
makes grenades sent to authorities after a wide demnable.” The package of the injured employee.He bassies in question. q

Germany, Norway urge NATO to protect undersea infrastructure

BERLIN (AP) — NATO’s sec- tection efforts would also Stoltenberg called under-
retary-general on Thursday be “a clear signal (that) sea pipelines and tele-
welcomed a recommen- we take the protection of communications cables
dation by Germany and our critical infrastructure “arteries for our econo-
Norway for the military al- very seriously, and no one mies.” He said that NATO
liance to set up a center should believe that attacks has doubled the number
tasked with protecting un- would remain without con- of ships patrolling the North
dersea infrastructure such sequences.” and Baltic Seas following
as gas pipelines and tele- Scholz returned to the is- the Nord Stream explo-
communication cables. sue at a news conference sions and stepped up in-
German Chancellor Olaf with Stoltenberg on Thurs- telligence-sharing, “but we
Scholz said after talks with day. He said explosions in need to do more to help
his his Norwegian counter- September that damaged protect this vital infrastruc-
part on Wednesday that the Nord Stream 1 and 2 ture.”
they would ask NATO Sec- pipelines built to transport He welcomed the German-
retary-General Jens Stol- Russian gas to Germany Norwegian initiative for a
tenberg to set up such a under the Baltic Sea, which “NATO undersea infrastruc-
center. investigators say were an ture center,” which he said
He pointed to the trans- act of sabotage, “showed would “provide allies with
Atlantic alliance’s “proven that we must completely better situation awareness, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg delivers a statement
coordination capabilities, re-evaluate the risks for map our vulnerabilities” during a visit of the ‘Berlin Wall Museum’ at the former checkpoint
its maritime presence and our energy infrastructure.” and help deter any attacks ‘Charlie’ in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
its expertise.” That, he said, is particularly against allies’ undersea Associated Press
A center coordinating pro- true in the North Sea. infrastructure.q