NATO boosts Baltic Sea presence after suspected sabotage of undersea cables, while Finland and Estonia investigate Russian-linked ship for causing critical infrastructure damage.
NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the Baltic Sea after the suspected sabotage this week of an undersea power cable and four internet cables, while alliance member Estonia launched a naval operation to guard a parallel electricity link.
Finland on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion of causing an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable linking it with Estonia, and of disrupting fibre optic lines. On Friday it said it had asked the transatlantic military alliance for support.
Baltic nations are on alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"We have agreed with Estonia, and we have also communicated to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, that our wish is to have a stronger NATO presence," Finnish President Alexander Stubb told a news conference.
Rutte posted on the social media platform X that "NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea", without elaborating. A NATO official declined to provide further detail.
Sweden's coastguard said it had increased surveillance of ship traffic, deploying aircraft and vessels and coordinating with other nations.
The Kremlin said Finland's seizure of the ship carrying Russian oil was of little concern to it. In the past, Russia has denied involvement in any of the Baltic infrastructure incidents.
Estonia said its navy was guarding the still operational Estlink 1 power cable.
"If there is a threat to the critical undersea infrastructure in our region, there will also be a response," Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on X.
He said on Thursday that such incidents had become so frequent it was hard to believe they were all caused by accidents or poor seamanship.
Estonia's justice minister said they highlighted the need to update centuries-old maritime law to explicitly outlaw such damage.
The 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 outage began at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking Finland and Estonia, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2, which was feeding power to Estonia at the time, might not be back in service before August.
SEIZED SHIP COULD BE PART OF RUSSIAN "SHADOW FLEET"
Finnish investigators believe the seized ship, registered in the Cook Islands and named as the Eagle S, may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
Video and photos published on Friday by the Finnish daily Ilta-Sanomat showed the Eagle S with a single anchor chain stretching into the sea from its starboard side, while the hole where the port side anchor chain would normally be was empty.
Finland's customs service believes the ship is part of a "shadow fleet" of ageing tankers being used to evade sanctions on the sale of Russian oil.
Finnish police said they were investigating the Eagle S on suspicion of "aggravated criminal mischief", and that crew members had been questioned.
United Arab Emirates-based Caravella LLC FZ, which according to MarineTraffic data owns the Eagle S, did not respond to requests for comment.
India's Peninsular Maritime, which according to MarineTraffic acts as technical manager for the ship, was not immediately available for comment.
The power cable outage will not prevent the planned decoupling of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from a Soviet-era power grid shared with Russia and Belarus, Estonia's grid operator Elering said.
But the breach means power prices in the Baltic countries are likely to be higher than expected in 2025, while those in Finland and the average of the Nordic region will probably be lower, LSEG power market analyst Ole Tom Djupskaas said.
Swedish police are still investigating last month's breach of two telecom cables, and have named a Chinese ship travelling from Russia as a possible culprit.
Separately, Finnish and Estonian police are continuing a probe into last year's damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline and several telecom cables, in which another Chinese vessel arriving from Russia was named.
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Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported on Thursday (29 January) that six people had been arrested by Turkish authorities for allegedly conducting espionage activities inside Türkiye.
“For some weeks now, we have been seeing with increasing clarity the emergence of a world of great powers,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday (29 January), declaring that Europe had found “self-respect” in standing up for a rules-based global order.
“This is a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe” French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Wednesday, 28 January, as he hosted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, in Paris to reaffirm France’s support for Greenland’s sovereignty.
Turkish defence firm Aselsan announced on Monday that it had signed a deal with the NATO alliance, of which Türkiye is a longstanding member, for the supply of “Identification of Friend or Foe” (IFF) interrogator systems for use with Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has begun negotiations with European leaders over Greenland and that an agreement is already taking shape.
The United States accused Cuba of interfering with the work of its top diplomat in Havana on Sunday (1 February) after small groups of Cubans jeered at him during meetings with residents and church representatives.
Dmitry Medvedev, said European countries have failed to defeat Russia in Ukraine and have instead inflicted serious economic damage on themselves, as he criticised EU policy, praised Donald Trump as a leader who seeks peace, and said Russia would “soon” achieve military victory in the war.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any U.S. military attack on Iran would spark a wider regional conflict, Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
U.S. president Donald Trump said Iran is “seriously talking” with the United States and expressed hope that negotiations could lead to an outcome acceptable to Washington.
Hungary has vowed legal action against the European Union over a planned ban on Russian gas imports by 2027, after Brussels said national objections would not override EU law.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of authorising intelligence operations aimed at eliminating “undesirable leaders” in Africa, claiming that Paris is pursuing a political comeback after losing ground in several former colonies.
Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar are trying to organise a meeting in Ankara between White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and top Iranian officials, according to reports in the U.S. and Turkish media.
German authorities have arrested five people suspected of running a criminal network to circumvent European Union sanctions by exporting goods to at least 24 sanctioned Russian defence companies, the federal prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
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