Finnish President Alexander Stubb has declared that both Finland and Estonia look forward to an increased presence of NATO forces on their territory. This is a reaction to Wednesday's incident related to attacks on infrastructure elements in the Baltic Sea. fleet of shadows.
President Stubb emphasized that the protection of critical infrastructure should be carried out within NATO and the EU, including through “appropriate burden sharing” as part of so-called “infrastructure” management. fleet of shadows.
・At a press conference in Helsinki, he said that if multiple incidents such as damage occur in a year, it cannot be treated as a mere “accident.” He also praised the service's quick response after the EstLink power bus failure.
“Together with Estonia, we look forward to expanding NATO's presence in the region to protect critical infrastructure,” said Alexander Stubbe.
Finland. President refutes allegations of sabotage in Baltic Sea
The president referred to past incidents such as damage to communications cables and the Baltic Connector gas pipeline, as well as disputes over permission for suspicious ships to leave the Gulf of Finland and delays in investigations.
– We have now taken over the ship within hours of the accident, – Stubbe acknowledged, stressing that without the service's quick action, even more damage could have occurred.
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“If we determine that the cable damage is due to sabotage, we will announce it, but there is no point in rushing,” he said in response to a question about possible hybrid actions by Russia. Ta.
“Shadow Fleet” in the Baltic Sea. Damaged submarine cable
On Wednesday, the EstLink 2 bus connecting Estonia and Finland lost power. Finnish authorities suspect that the damage to the undersea cables is probably related to the tanker Eagle S, which is part of Russia's Shadow Fleet. The vessel was flying the Cook Islands flag and was near the main line at the time of the accident.
See also: Russia's 'shadow fleet' in EC's crosshairs. More incidents occur at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
She was stopped by Finnish border guards and directed to Finland's southern coast, dozens of kilometers west of Helsinki. Officials boarded the ship and preliminary investigators said the damage to the cables may have been caused by an anchor that was “not in place” when the ship stopped. . The incident is being formally investigated as serious vandalism and destruction of property.
At the same time, four submarine data transmission cables were damaged on Wednesday. Three are located between Finland and Estonia, and one connects to Germany. It is not yet known whether these events are related.
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