NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced this Tuesday the launch of a new mission intended to protect the submarine cables that run through the depths of the Baltic Sea. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, countries in the region have denounced various sabotage that Russia and its partners use to attempt to damage communication systemsn of the allies.
With this operation, the Alliance seeks to counteract these hybrid attacks against its critical infrastructures. Among these threats are the so-called maneuvers “ghost fleet” from the Kremlin: vessels flying the flags of third countries that transport hydrocarbons to help Moscow evade Western sanctions.
The mission, called Baltic Sentry (Baltic Sentinel), will feature the deployment of frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and naval drones by NATO countries. This was announced by Rutte after a summit held in Helsinki, which brought together the leaders of Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. “This will allow for greater surveillance and deterrence,” the leaders have agreed.
Ensuring the security of Baltic infrastructure is crucial to guarantee the supply of energy that comes from power cables or gas pipelines. However, as Rutte recalled, also because more than 95% of internet traffic passes through submarine cables and “1.3 million kilometers of cables guarantee financial transactions worth about 10 trillion dollars every day.”
“We have seen elements of a campaign to destabilize our societies through cyberattacks, assassination attempts and sabotage, including the possible sabotage of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea, with damage to energy and telecommunications cables that are vital to the security and prosperity of our nations,” said Rutte. And although the happened, the truth is that everything points to Russia.”There are reasons to be very worried“said NATO chief.
Last December, the Finnish authorities announced the confiscation of the russian tanker Eagle S, registered in which he was suspected of having damaged the Estlink 2 submarine cable, which connects Finland and Estonia, and four other telecommunications cables. Previously, in November, Denmark detained a freighter chinese, the Yi Peng 3, suspected of having damaged two underwater telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea.
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