NATO Baltic leaders seek to boost security after cable 'sabotage'
HELSINKI
NATO countries on the Baltic Sea met in Helsinki on Tuesday, looking to boost security following the suspected sabotage of undersea cables, widely blamed on Russia.
Several undersea telecom and power cables have been severed in the Baltic Sea in recent months, with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war.
The sabotage has been blamed on a "shadow fleet" of vessels, often ageing and operating under opaque ownership, that carry Russian crude oil and petroleum products, embargoed since the invasion of Ukraine.
Addressing the European Parliament, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed on Jan. 13 the need to make clear that "such hostile actions" and such efforts "will not go unanswered."
"We will also strengthen NATO's military presence in the region, and of course, we will discuss the shadow fleet and what to do about it. So we are responding and will continue to ensure no country can exploit us, control our infrastructure or disrupt our societies," Rutte said, adding that he would be attending the meeting.
"It's clear that we have to be better prepared for different kind of threats and we can see many hybrid threats around us," executive vice-president of the European Commission Henna Virkkunen told reporters after arriving at the summit On Tuesday.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was "totally unacceptable that these damages seem to have been increasing in numbers recently" but expressed caution in apportioning blame.
"We don't accuse anybody for anything so far. We don't do that easily without very firm proof," Kristersson said.
On Tuesday's meeting focused on "strengthening of NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea and responding to the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet," according to a statement from the office of Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Stubb was co-hosting the meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal.
NATO said in late December it would increase its presence in the region following the suspected sabotage of undersea cables between Finland and Estonia but it has yet to announce an official operation.
Last week, Finland said NATO would contribute two vessels to a monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea.
The British-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which included Nordic and Baltic states as well as the Netherlands, also said it would increase its surveillance.
Sweden is sending up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft.
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In September 2022, a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
The most recent incident occurred on Dec. 25, when the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.
That came just weeks after two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on Nov. 17-18.