A "Russian ghost fleet" is suspected to be behind a submarine cable outage between Finland and Estonia and Berlin says the incident should serve as a "wake-up call" for Europe.
The outage occurred on Wednesday 25 December and is suspected to be an act of sabotage perpetrated by Russia, German Defence Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday. Germany is pushing for new EU sanctions to be applied to Russia.
"Ships are currently damaging important submarine cables in the Baltic Sea almost monthly," Baerbock said on Saturday. "The crews leave anchors in the water, dragging them along the seabed for kilometres for no apparent reason and then lose them when hauling them up."
"It is more than difficult to keep believing in coincidences. This is an urgent wake-up call for all of us," she added.
'Russian ghost fleet'
Baerbock and other European politicians believe a "Russian ghost fleet" is behind the Baltic Sea incidents, in reference to ships transporting crude oil and petroleum products from Russia that are subject to an embargo.
Besides being "a major threat to our environment and security," this fleet is used by Moscow "to finance its war of aggression in Ukraine," the minister stressed.
On Christmas Day, the EstLink 2 direct current connection between Finland and Estonia disconnected from the network. The suspect vessel, an oil tanker from a Russian port, was seized by Finland. This incident occurred just over a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
The EU condemned "any deliberate destruction of Europe’s essential infrastructure" on Thursday and announced it is preparing new sanctions against Russian ships. Earlier this month, EU countries agreed to blacklist an additional 50 tankers from this fleet.
Discussions are also taking place among NATO partners to "better protect the Baltic Sea against hybrid threats," according to Baerbock.
