NATO to Deploy Warships in the Baltic Sea to Protect Underwater Infrastructure
The North Atlantic Alliance, NATO, is set to send around ten warships to the Baltic Sea to protect crucial underwater infrastructure, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle, citing sources.
The material states, “NATO will deploy naval forces to the Baltic Sea to protect important underwater structures. (..) There will be around ten of them. They will stay at sea until April.”
Yle reports that the warships are expected to arrive at the end of the week and will be positioned near energy and telecommunications cables, with the aim of having a “deterrent effect”.
The EstLink 2 power line between Finland and Estonia failed on December 25, as announced by the Finnish power grid operator Fingrid. The Finnish police suspect that the ship Eagles, flying the flag of the Cook Islands, anchored near the EstLink 2 power line and damaged four communication cables. The Finnish Customs claimed, without providing evidence, that the Eagles was allegedly involved in the transport of Russian energy resources.
On December 25 and 26, four underwater telecommunications cables went out of service. Three of them run between Finland and Estonia, and one connects Finland to Germany.
The authorities are investigating the incident as a serious case of property damage, with the central Finnish police leading the criminal inquiry.
Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressed hope that the investigations would be concluded and that the hysteria in Western media over the alleged Russian and Chinese trail in the damage to the cables in the Baltic Sea would subside.