NATO announces a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region

Estonian naval ships sail in the Baltic Sea on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, as part of stepped-up NATO patrols in the region following suspected sabotage of undersea cables. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region after a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region, the alliance’s leader said on Tuesday.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that the mission dubbed Baltic Sentry would include frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and a fleet of naval drones to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence.”

“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 after a meeting in Helsinki with the leaders of Allied Baltic nations.

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.

Even as Rutte was meeting in Helsinki with the leaders of the Baltic nations, there were reports on the Polish state broadcaster TVP World that a ship belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” was seen circling a natural gas pipeline that runs from Norway to Poland. But Poland’s military said later that ”the described incident did not take place.”

The shadow 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, and is a cause of concern for European countries.

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.”

A number of incidents have added to security fears. On Dec. 26 Finnish police and border guards boarded a vessel, the Eagle S, linked to neighboring Russia as they investigated whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables.

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 increase the alliance’s presence in the Baltic Sea guarding 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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Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland. Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed reporting.

Lorne Cook And Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press