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NATO to Protect Baltic Undersea Cables 01/14 06:17
BRUSSELS (AP) -- NATO is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables
in the Baltic Sea region after a string of incidents in the Baltic that have
heightened concerns about possible Russian activities in the region, the
alliance's leader said on Tuesday.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at a meeting in Helsinki with the leaders
of NATO countries located on the Baltic Sea that the effort would be dubbed
Baltic Sentry.
"Across the alliance, we have seen elements of a campaign to destabilize our
societies through cyberattacks, assassination attempts and sabotage, including
possible sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea," Rutte told reporters.
Announcing the new operation, Rutte noted that more than 95% of internet
traffic is secured via undersea cables, and 1.3 million kilometers (808,000
miles) of cables guarantee an estimated $10 trillion worth of financial
transactions every day.
Rutte said that the mission would include frigates and maritime patrol
aircraft, among others, and will "enhance our vigilance in the Baltic." He also
said that a small fleet of naval drones will be deployed "to provide enhanced
surveillance and deterrence."
Even as Rutte was meeting in Helsinki with the leaders of the Baltic
nations, there were reports on the Polish state broadcaster TVP that a ship
belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet" was seen circling a natural gas pipeline
that runs from Norway to Poland. The fleet is made up of hundreds of aging
tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions
and keeping the oil revenue flowing to Moscow.
Finland President Alexander Stubb said the issue of the ship seen near the
pipeline had been discussed at the meeting, without giving details.
Rutte said NATO's adversaries must know that the alliance will not accept
attacks on its critical infrastructure, underlining that "we will do everything
in our power to make sure that we fight back, that we are able to see what is
happening and then take the next steps to make sure that that doesn't happen
again."
The meeting included leaders from Finland, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden,
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
In a statement, the Baltic Sea allies warned that "we reserve our rights, in
accordance with international law, to take action against any suspected vessels
that circumvent sanctions and threaten our security, infrastructure and the
environment."
They said that "Russia's use of the so-called shadow fleet poses a
particular threat to the maritime and environmental security." They said that
beyond threatening undersea infrastructure, "this reprehensible practice" also
"significantly supports funding of Russia's illegal war of aggression against
Ukraine."
In response, the leaders pledged to "to begin deploying innovative
solutions, developing new technologies for surveillance and tracking of
suspicious vessels and undersea monitoring."
They also vowed to explore new legal ways to combat the challenge, step up
information sharing, and said that their effort would "include enhanced
partnerships with the private sector, in particular infrastructure operators
and cutting-edge technology companies."
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in separate remarks to reporters in Helsinki
that Germany will participate in the Baltic Sentry mission. Asked whether that
means Germany will contribute ships or surveillance planes and whether he made
a specific offer, he replied: "We will participate with everything we have in
the way of naval capabilities; that will vary, as far as the concrete
possibilities of deployment are concerned."
Sweden also announced Sunday that it plans to contribute up to three
warships to a NATO effort to increase the alliance's presence in the Baltic Sea
as it tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure.
Pressed for more details about what the operation might involve, Rutte
declined to provide ship numbers, saying that the figure could vary week to
week, and "we don't want to make the enemy any wiser than he or she is already."
"We will make use of the full range of possibilities we as an alliance
have," Rutte said.
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