Warsaw (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Polish PM Tusk reveals NATO’s plan to enhance Baltic security amid rising concerns over sabotage.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has pledged to boost military security over the Baltic Sea. Prime Minister Donald Tusk who revealed Rutte’s statement while extending a cabinet meeting on 31 Dec 2024, stated that security will take centre stand in the political theatre in 2025.
The matter of security will also gain importance during the Polish EU presidency, as only hours remained before Poland was assigned to take the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Talking of his recent discussions with European Union officials from Estonia and Finland, Tusk stated, “The Polish voice has started influencing specific decisions.”
“After the first few happenings in the Baltic Sea, after these strange troubles with Russian and Chinese vessels, and after the disturbance of various underwater cables in the Baltic, which greatly affected all the countries adjoining the Baltic Sea, we suggested that the Baltic become an extent of enhanced military control by NATO and the Baltic states, equivalent to the safety of our airspace,” the prime minister stated.
How have recent baltic sabotage incidents shaped NATO’s response?
Recent incidents in the Baltic Sea, particularly undersea cables, have brought about major concerns about potential sabotage that might be related to Russian activities. On December 25, 2024, a Finnish-Estonian Estlink-2 power cable was reported to be damaged, which prompted investigations by Finnish authorities.
An investigation revealed a 60-mile-long drag mark on the seabed, which was believed to be caused by the anchor of a vessel identified as the Eagle S, which is linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”—a group of ageing tankers used to evade Western sanctions. The European Commission’s vice president, Kaja Kallas, noted that the ship involved in the most recent happening belonged to Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet.”
