On Tuesday (November 19), Baltic countries have begun investigating the cutting of undersea cables. Two undersea fiber optic communication cables located in the Baltic Sea were severed on Sunday and Monday. Some countries have suggested that this could be an act of sabotage. Lithuania’s armed forces have increased patrolling at sea.
European countries have not directly accused Russia of damaging the cables, but countries like Germany and Poland have indicated that it is likely an act of sabotage.
On Tuesday, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, after meeting with several European counterparts in Warsaw, stated: “If Russia does not stop its destructive behavior in Europe, Warsaw will close (Russia’s) remaining consulates in Poland.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, while acknowledging the lack of concrete evidence, stated that Germany must assume this was due to sabotage. He said during a routine meeting of EU defense ministers, “No one believes these cables were accidentally cut. I do not want to believe that this damage was caused accidentally by an anchor.”
A spokesperson for the Lithuanian armed forces stated that the Lithuanian Navy has increased patrols. The country’s Prosecutor General’s Office mentioned that they are gathering information to determine whether a formal investigation should be initiated.
Dutch Defense Minister Reuben Brekelmans explicitly stated that he does not have specific information on who is responsible but remarked, “We observe that especially Russia’s activities in our waters are increasingly aimed at espionage and potentially disrupting our critical infrastructure.”
On Tuesday, foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK released a joint statement saying, “Moscow’s escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries are unprecedented in kind and scale, posing significant security risks.”
This strongly worded statement was issued as European countries investigated the complete severing of the Baltic Sea cables. However, sources have indicated that this statement is not a direct response to the cable cuts.
The two severed fiber optic cables connect Finland to Germany and Sweden to Lithuania. Companies owning these cables have stated that the cause of the disruption is currently unknown.
Finnish state-owned network security and telecom company Cinia stated that the 1,200 km cable connecting Helsinki and German port Rostock stopped working around 2 am Greenwich Mean Time on Monday.
The company also noted that the reason for the malfunction cannot be determined before repairs begin, which typically takes 5 to 15 days.
Telia Lietuva in Lithuania (part of the Swedish Telia Group) reported that the 218 km internet link connecting Lithuania and the Swedish island of Gotland went down around 8 am Greenwich Mean Time on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the owner and operator of this cable, Arelion, stated, “It is not partial damage but a complete breakdown.”
The Baltic Sea, located in Northern Europe, is a busy commercial shipping route surrounded by nine countries, including Russia.
Last year, a submarine natural gas pipeline and several telecom cables at the bottom of the Baltic Sea suffered serious damage, prompting alarms in the region.
Investigators from Finland and Estonia suggested that a Chinese container ship may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor, but whether the damage was accidental or intentional remains unclear.
In 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany exploded in the Baltic Sea, and the case is still under investigation by German authorities.
(Information in this article was referenced from Reuters.)