Germany sought further EU sanctions against Russia’s “shadow fleet” on Saturday, calling the alleged destruction of an underwater power connection connecting Finland and Estonia this week a “wake-up call.”
Just over a month after two telecom cables were cut in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic, the Estlink 2 cable, which transports power from Finland to Estonia, was cut off from the grid on Wednesday.
“Major underwater cables in the Baltic Sea are being damaged by ships almost every month,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the Funke media group in a statement.
She claimed that “for no apparent reason, crews are leaving anchors in the water, dragging them for kilometers along the seafloor, and then losing them when pulling them up.”
It’s quite hard to trust in coincidences anymore. We all need to take immediate notice of this.
Despite embargoes imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Baerbock called for “new European sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet,” which consists of ships that transport Russian petroleum and oil products.
She claimed that Russia uses the fleet “to finance its war of aggression in Ukraine” and that it poses “a major threat to our environment and security.”
As part of an investigation into “aggravated sabotage” of the Estlink cable, Finnish officials announced on Thursday that they were looking into the oil tanker Eagle S, which sailed from a Russian port.
Mark Rutte, the secretary general of the Western alliance, announced on Friday that NATO will increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea in retaliation.
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