During a debate on Tuesday 21 January, representatives of numerous European Parliament political groups called for tougher sanctions against the Russian fleet, which is considered to be responsible for damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.
Around 70 ships have already been sanctioned and, in late December, the EU High Representative announced that she would be proposing to sanction more (see EUROPE 13551/12).
“We need to put an end to the ‘ghost fleet’ because of the safety and environmental risks involved. All ships must be sanctioned”, explained Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA, Finnish). This view is shared by Jonas Sjöstedt (The Left, Swedish), who said that “we need to act in two ways: fight against those who circumvent the sanctions before there is an accident and put more ships on the blacklist, stopping the fleet for the sake of the environment and Ukraine”.
Anders Vistisen (PfE, Danish) also called for the introduction of sanctions to prevent European shipyards from repairing these ships, and for the naval presence of allied countries in the Baltic to be stepped up.
“We must protect our cables and those who damage them must be severely punished so that it is too dangerous for Russia to continue”, added Urmas Paet (Renew Europe, Estonian).
MEPs also stressed the need for closer cooperation between Member States. According to Michael Gahler (EPP, German), it is positive to see that Europeans are increasingly prepared. “This is another example of how we can only be strong together”, he added.
Commission Vice-President Henna Virkunnen promised that Europeans would put an end to Russian acts of sabotage, “which undermine our security”. “We are going to build our own resilience and make the perpetrators accountable for their actions. We will respond decisively to all these threats”, she summed up.
Similarly, on behalf of the Council, Polish minister Adam Szłapka called for a coordinated response to sabotage and the sharing of information on critical infrastructures. “We will have to act at EU level and with our international partners. (...) We are ready to use all instruments, including other restrictive measures, to protect our continent”, he promised. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)