10 European Countries Agree To Strengthen Protection Of Underwater Infrastructure
- 23.05.2025, 15:51
Russia uses its "shadow fleet" as a weapon against EU and NATO countries.
As Russia uses its "shadow fleet" as a weapon against European Union (EU) and NATO countries, ten European countries have agreed to strengthen the protection of critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, LRT reports.
The memorandum was signed in Tallinn by the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
It envisages strengthening cooperation to improve the resilience of cables and pipelines laid on the seabed, secure supply chains, conduct underwater monitoring and expand rapid repair capabilities.
The memorandum also includes provisions on data protection, possible joint sources of funding and coordination of actions.
"The document demonstrates a strong political will to act together to ensure energy, economic and digital security throughout the region," the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministers in Tallinn also discussed an incident that took place a few days ago in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, when the sanctioned "shadow" tanker Jaguar refused to comply with the Estonian government's legal demands This was very clearly demonstrated by the incident with the sanctioned tanker Jaguar, when Russia used its air force to protect it," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kjastutis Budrys said.
The foreign minister said tough sanctions on the remaining ships of the "shadow fleet" should be continued, as individual ships are currently subject to different sanctions by the US, Britain and the European Union.
At Lithuania's suggestion, the EU's 17th sanctions package included another 200 ships of the Russian "shadow fleet" on the sanctions list.
Another important step, according to Budrys, is to increase NATO's military presence in the Baltic Sea, expand the mandate of the Alliance's Baltic Sentry mission and revise national response rules - even involving naval forces in peacetime.
In recent years, several breaches of underwater infrastructure have been recorded in the Baltic Sea.
In response to the incidents, in January NATO launched a new surveillance mission in the Baltic Sea - Baltic Sentry - aimed at preventing attempted attacks on underwater infrastructure in the region.