Estonia Turns To NATO

Tallinn asks to deploy a “deterrent fleet” in the Baltic Sea.

Estonia intends to ask NATO to deploy a “deterrent fleet” in the Baltic Sea after the rupture of submarine cables, said Prime Minister Kristen Michal. According to him, consultations on this issue will be held within the framework of Article 4 of the North Atlantic Alliance, which provides for the discussion of threats to the security, territorial integrity or political independence of any of the bloc's countries, postimees.ee reports.

“Damage to critical infrastructure is becoming more commonplace, the problem is recurring, which means that countries must better protect their infrastructure and intercept ships better, along with deterrence, there must be the ability to quickly identify the perpetrators,” Michal said. He noted that the most important thing is to increase the level of monitoring of potential threats.

The North Atlantic Alliance is ready to help Estonia protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “NATO stands in solidarity with Allies and condemns any attacks on critical infrastructure. We are following investigations by Estonia and Finland, and we stand ready to provide further support,” Rutte noted. However, he did not clarify what support he meant.

On Wednesday, December 25, the Estonian operator Elering reported an emergency shutdown of the EstLink 2 cable, which connects the country with Finland. Shortly after, border guards noticed a vessel in the area of the alleged accident and asked the crew to raise the anchor, but only the anchor chain was on the surface. Finnish police detained the vessel, which turned out to be the Eagle S oil tanker, sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands. According to the Marine Traffic service, before the cable was damaged, the tanker left the port of St. Petersburg and was supposed to arrive in Port Said (Egypt) on January 9. Finnish police are considering the incident as vandalism with aggravating circumstances and are investigating the case under the relevant article.

Also on December 25, three communication cables between Estonia and Finland were damaged. Two of them belong to Elisa, the third to CITIC Telecom. The authorities initiated an investigation, and the Finnish operator Flingrid did not rule out sabotage.

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