On Tuesday 14 January, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the NATO’s launch of the ‘Baltic Sentry’ to respond to security threats in the Baltic Sea, following the damage caused to the submarine cables linking Estonia and Finland which took place on 25 December (see EUROPE 13551/12).
“Under the authority of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, General Chris Cavoli, this military activity is part of our ongoing effort to enhance maritime presence and monitoring of key areas for our Alliance”, explained Mr Rutte at the end of a summit of the leaders of the Baltic Sea Allies (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland).
According to him, the ‘Baltic Sentry’ will involve frigates and maritime patrol aircraft. Mr Rutte also announced an initiative to deploy new technologies, “including a small fleet of naval drones”, to enhance surveillance and deterrence.
NATO and the Allies will also be working to integrate their surveillance assets, thus “ensuring comprehensive threat detection”.
Mr Rutte also emphasised the need for rigorous application of the law, which is the responsibility of the Member States. “Ship captains must understand that potential threats to our infrastructure will have consequences, including possible boarding, impounding, and arrest”, he warned.
Recalling that building resilience required safer, more repairable and redundant infrastructure, the Secretary General explained that this meant working within the Critical Undersea Infrastructure Network to better protect and secure vital undersea assets.
Strengthening EU/NATO cooperation. In a joint statement, the leaders promised that any attack on their infrastructures would be met with a “robust and determined response”.
“We remain prepared to act individually and collectively to protect our critical undersea infrastructure and increase resilience, including by building on and expanding the existing NATO-EU cooperation”, promise the Allies, all of whom are EU members.
They also encourage greater cooperation to respond to the threats caused by the “reckless” activities of the Russian fleet.
Invited to the meeting, Vice-President Henna Virkkunen promised that the European Commission was “ready to act and support EU Member States that have been subject to hybrid operations in the Baltic Sea”.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/f19 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)