NATO countries around the Baltic Sea will increase patrols after suspected Russian sabotage actions

NATO will increase patrols in the Baltic Sea with, among other things, naval drones, naval aircraft and frigates. NATO countries around the Baltic Sea will also monitor suspect ships from, for example, the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ more quickly and, if necessary, arrest them. They agreed on this at a summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki.

The main aim of the summit is to better protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and tackle the threat of the so-called Russian shadow fleet. Russia is trying to circumvent Western sanctions with a shadow fleet: by using ships without clear registrations and flags to transport oil, for example.

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Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal will host the summit. Leaders of other NATO countries in the region, such as Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden, are also participating. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will travel from Brussels to Helsinki, while the European Commission is represented by Vice-President Henna Virkkunen. Russia, the only Baltic Sea country outside NATO, has not been invited. (Read more below the photo)

The summit is a response to recent incidents in which several submarine cables in the Baltic Sea were allegedly deliberately damaged. For example, fiber optic cables between Helsinki and the German city of Rostock were damaged in two cases.

In a more recent incident, an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia was also damaged. This probably happened due to the anchor of the oil tanker Eagle S, which sailed under the flag of the Cook Islands. However, according to the EU, this ship is part of the Russian shadow fleet.

Increased attendance

NATO will “fight back” against undermining attacks, NATO CEO Mark Rutte said after the summit meeting. NATO ships are already monitoring the sea, where cables and pipelines appear to be being damaged more and more often. Patrols on the vast waters will be expanded, NATO announced.

Following the Finnish example, NATO countries will also take more decisive action against the often obscure ships that Russia uses to evade Western sanctions and which lately appear to be targeting submarine infrastructure. Finland directed a ship that allegedly damaged a major cable to a Finnish port last month, searched it and detained it.

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