20 warships to guard Baltic Sea pipelines
Ten European countries respond to damage of undersea gas pipelines
Ten European countries respond to damage of undersea gas pipelines
Ten northern European countries on Tuesday agreed to boost their naval presence in the Baltic Sea to protect undersea gas pipelines.
Swedish Minister for Defense Pal Jonson told public broadcaster SVT that 20 warships dubbed Joint Expeditionary Force will conduct maritime surveillance in the Baltic Sea and parts of the North Atlantic starting December.
"Air capabilities will also be deployed across the JEF's core region as a military contribution to the protection of critical undersea infrastructure," the 10 countries' defense ministers said in a joint declaration.
"This marks the first time a JEF Response Option has been activated," they continued adding the "activity will take place in early December."
The plan was hatched in October by leaders of Britain, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway after a pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia sprung a leak, believed to be the result of "external" activity.
Finnish police have said they believe the pipeline was damaged by an anchor belonging to a Chinese ship.
In September 2022, a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Western Europe, at a time of high geopolitical tensions as Moscow cut gas supplies to Europe.
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