Sabotage in the Baltic Sea: NATO agrees on these protective measures

Germany and the other NATO states bordering the Baltic Sea have their sights set on acts of sabotage against their critical infrastructure – and they want to prevent the attacks with a closely coordinated approach. “We are determined to deter, detect and combat any attempts at sabotage. Any attack on our infrastructure will be met with a robust and decisive response,” said a joint statement issued by the participating states after a summit on Baltic Sea security in Helsinki published.

In it, the countries welcomed the fact that NATO had launched the “Baltic Sentry” operation to deter hostile activities in the Baltic Sea region. In addition, the Staff Commander Task Force Baltic has been activated in Rostock and is coordinating the allies’ ships in the Baltic Sea.

The mission is about “increased vigilance in the Baltic Sea region,” emphasized NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Rutte did not say how many frigates would be used. The Dutchman emphasized that he didn’t want to “make the enemy any smarter than he already is.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had promised participation at the summit “with German ships for security in the Baltic Sea”.

In recent months, several data and power cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea. NATO suspects that these are acts of sabotage controlled by Russia. China has also been targeted because of the incidents.

As part of the new NATO mission, the allies are primarily focusing on ships from the so-called Russian shadow fleet. This refers to tankers and other cargo ships with opaque ownership structures that are used by Russia to circumvent sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, for example when transporting oil.

“We reserve the right to take action, in accordance with international law, against any vessels suspected of evading sanctions and endangering our security, infrastructure and the environment,” the joint statement said. Ship insurance certificates will also be checked in the future.

“Russia’s use of the so-called shadow fleet represents a particular threat to maritime and ecological security in the Baltic Sea region and globally,” the participating NATO allies Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden stated in the statement . This practice also contributes significantly to the financing of Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, the states criticized. Decisive steps are being taken to counter these threats.