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Europe|Europe Vows to Step Up Baltic Sea Security After a New Cable
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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/world/europe/
baltic-sea-cable-sweden.html

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Europe Vows to Step Up Baltic Sea Security After a New Cable Break

The bloc announced new steps to prevent threats to undersea lines
after Sweden discovered damage to one east of Gotland island.

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Two ships at sea.
A Swedish Coast Guard vessel in the Baltic Sea. Sweden also
investigated the severing of another undersea cable in January.
Credit...Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency, via Reuters

By Isabella KwaiChristina Anderson and Johanna Lemola

Isabella Kwai reported from London, Christina Anderson from
Stockholm, and Johanna Lemola from Helsinki, Finland.

Feb. 21, 2025Updated 9:00 a.m. ET

The European Union vowed on Friday to increase security in the Baltic
Sea as the Swedish authorities said they were investigating a new
cable break, the latest example of damage to underwater
infrastructure in the region.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, said it would take
new steps to prevent and detect threats to submarine cables, which
carry internet traffic and transmit electricity.

The severing of several undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in recent
months has raised concerns that Russia is using the moves to
retaliate against NATO countries that have supported Ukraine.
Alliance officials have pointed to Russia as a possible culprit, but
have said that it is difficult to prove.

"We want to make sure Europe is equipped not only to prevent and
detect sabotage to cables, but also to actively deter, repair and
respond to any threat to critical infrastructure," said Henna
Virkkunen, the European Union official who announced the initiative.
The recent episodes were of "great concern," she said, adding that
the bloc was taking "decisive action" to protect the cables.

The measures, which the bloc said would be rolled out over the next
two years, would bolster security and threat-detection in the region,
and prioritize funding for new cables. The measures also strengthened
enforcement of sanctions and diplomatic measures against what were
termed hostile actors and the "shadow fleet."

NATO has also stepped up its military presence in the area with a new
patrol and surveillance operation, called Baltic Sentry, aimed at
protecting infrastructure in the sea.

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