This proposal from Donald Tusk follows the investigation into the rupture of submarine cables on November 17 and 18, considered a possible act of sabotage.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed on Wednesday the creation of a police mission in the Baltic Sea to protect “critical infrastructure”during a summit with his Baltic and Nordic counterparts in Sweden.
This proposal comes after the rupture of two submarine cables in the Baltic Sea on November 17 and 18. Sweden has opened an investigation into sabotage and is investigating the role of a Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, stranded in international waters near the Danish coast. “We need new instruments (…) to counter threats. This is why I propose to create a police mission in the Baltic Sea”said the head of the Polish government in Harpsund, Sweden.
“We share a similar security assessment regarding critical infrastructure and strategic resources in the Baltic Sea”he added, stressing that all the countries present at this summit (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Poland) had found this initiative “interesting”.
These countries regularly blame Russia for its “hybrid attacks”including for this recent rupture of submarine cables in the Baltic. The Kremlin ruled “laughable” the accusations against him and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied any responsibility in this affair.
Surveillance de Yi Peng 3
The Danish navy and the Swedish coast guard are monitoring the Yi Peng 3, which has been immobilized for more than a week in the narrow Kattegat Strait between Sweden and Denmark. Lithuania announced on Wednesday that it would set up a joint investigation team with Sweden and Finland, coordinated by Eurojust, the European Union's judicial cooperation agency.
Investigators will try to establish “if the cables were damaged by deliberate acts for subversive or terrorist purposes”said the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office, in a press release. The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday that investigators suspect the Chinese cargo ship dragged its anchor on the seabed for more than 100 miles (160 km) in order to deliberately cut the cables.
The Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier built in 2001, sailed into the area of the cables around the time they were severed, according to ship tracking sites. Tensions in this sea have increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With the accession of Sweden, after that of Finland, all the states bordering the Baltic Sea, with the exception of Russia, are now members of the Atlantic Alliance.
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