The alliance’s Secretary General said on Friday, as Estonia launched a naval operation to protect the Estlink 1 undersea power cable connecting the country to Finland.
Politics
NATO expands presence in Baltic after undersea power cable damaged
NATO will increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea, the alliance’s Secretary General said on Friday, as Estonia launched a naval operation to protect the Estlink 1 undersea power cable connecting the country to Finland.
Society
The moves came a day after Finland seized a ship believed to belong to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet on suspicion that the vessel caused an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable from Finland to Estonia on Wednesday.
The Finnish authorities also suspect that the vessel damaged or broke four internet lines.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wrote in a post on the X platform: “Spoke with [Finnish President Alexander Stubb] about the ongoing Finnish-led investigation into possible sabotage of undersea cables. I expressed my full solidarity and support. NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea.”
The vessel seized by Finland, an old oil tanker called the Eagle S, sails under a Cook Islands flag and reportedly belongs to the Russian shadow fleet.
The shadow fleet is a term used to describe a flotilla of hundreds of poorly maintained aging tankers operating outside of legal trade networks in order to evade sanctions on Russian oil.
