Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Hours after the European Union condemned the incident, which it described as a deliberate destruction of Europe's infrastructure, NATO announced its intention to strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea, following the damage to an undersea power cable and four internet lines this week. At the same time, Estonia launched a naval operation to protect a parallel power line.
Finnish authorities had detained a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion of causing the interruption of the "Eastlink 2" power cable that connects Finland to Estonia, in addition to the fiber optic lines. Following this, Finland requested NATO support.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated during a press conference: "We have agreed with Estonia, and we have informed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, of our desire to strengthen the alliance's presence." For his part, Rutte confirmed his support for the investigation led by Finland. According to the Euronews website in Brussels, the Baltic states are on high alert for possible sabotage, especially after a series of malfunctions that have affected power cables, communication lines and gas pipelines since the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, although marine equipment can also be exposed to malfunctions and accidents.
In the same context, the Swedish Coast Guard announced the intensification of monitoring of ship traffic to protect vital facilities under the sea, using aircraft and ships in coordination with the Swedish Navy and neighboring countries.
Finnish investigations indicate that the detained ship, registered in the Cook Islands and named "Eagle S", may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor on the seabed, while the Finnish Customs Service believes that the ship is part of a hidden fleet of old oil tankers seeking to evade sanctions imposed on the sale of Russian oil.
This came after a European Union statement issued in Brussels said that the recent incident related to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea is the latest in a series of suspected attacks on vital infrastructure. We commend the Finnish authorities for their swift action in boarding the suspect vessel. We are working with the Finnish authorities in the ongoing investigation. We stand in full solidarity with Finland, Estonia, and Germany.

We strongly condemn any deliberate destruction of critical infrastructure in Europe. The suspect vessel is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment while funding Russia’s war budget. We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to target this fleet.

In response to these incidents, we are bolstering efforts to protect undersea cables, including enhanced information sharing, new detection technologies, undersea repair capabilities, and international cooperation. We remain committed to ensuring the resilience and security of our critical infrastructure.

At present, there is no threat to the security of electricity supplies in the region.