“Estonia will strengthen the protection of underwater infrastructure and plans to involve NATO allies After the damage to the EstLink 2 cable, Estonia plans to strengthen surveillance of underwater infrastructure together with NATO. The government held an emergency meeting and discussed defense measures with allies.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
It is noted that this was announced by the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kristen Michal.
According to ERR, the Government convened for an emergency meeting on December 26 at 4:00 p.m. due to the breakdown of the underwater infrastructure. The press conference was attended by Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Minister of Internal Affairs Laurie Laenemets, Minister of Justice and Digital Technologies Liisa Pakosta.
Michal noted that the meeting heard all the available information about what happened to the cables and what can be done to better protect the infrastructure. He added that he and other ministers keep in touch with colleagues from neighboring countries, and also exchange information within the EU and NATO.
The most important thing we must do now is to strengthen the monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure, both at sea and on land. This must be provided first and foremost by the fleet, and we will also ask for the help of our allies… More active protection, monitoring and deterrence actions are needed near our critical infrastructure
He admitted that it is impossible to monitor literally “every square meter” of the seabed, so at the same time as increased surveillance, it is important to take care of the ability to quickly eliminate such damage. Estonia sees Finland as a key partner in this matter.
Kristen Michal added that the issue should also be raised at the EU and NATO level about updating legislation related to maritime issues, as the threat of sabotage on critical infrastructure at sea is relevant not only for the Baltic Sea.
Countries must be able to better protect their critical infrastructure, stop suspicious ships more effectively and arrest suspects more quickly
He praised Finland for its quick and decisive response to the incident.
This is the first case among such incidents when the suspect vessel has been detained and the first steps have already been taken to investigate
The Prime Minister noted that the ship detained by Finland belongs to the “shadow fleet”, and Russia hardly likes Estonia’s active position in countering the “shadow fleet”.
Interior Minister Laurie Laenemets, for her part, noted that frequent incidents of infrastructure damage cannot be considered a coincidence.
Lauri Läenemets added that when such actions are systemic, one can raise questions about attacks against Estonian infrastructure.
In the current security environment, it does not matter whether it is an armed attack or a hybrid attack. It is about actions directed against someone for a specific purpose
The minister noted that it is important to increase attention not only to underwater infrastructure, but also to land infrastructure, especially energy infrastructure, given that the Baltic states are to be disconnected from the Russian energy system in February.
We will remind
The electric cable EstLink 2, connecting Estonia and Finland, was disconnected in an emergency.