Germany says it assumes that damage caused to two telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea is an act of sabotage as European nations condemn the alleged Russian attacks on their “security architecture”.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that no one believes the cables between Finland and Germany and between Sweden and Lithuania were accidentally severed.
“We have to say, without knowing exactly who it came from, that this is a hybrid action. We also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it was sabotage,” he said.
The first of the suspected attacks was of an internet link between Lithuania and the island of Gotland in Sweden on Sunday morning, followed by a damaged cable between Helsinki and the German port of Rostock early on Monday, according to local operators.
The latter was the only direct connection of its kind between Finland and Central Europe, spanning nearly 1,200km (730 miles).
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into “sabotage” after the two undersea cables were cut.
“The offence is currently being investigated as sabotage. The preliminary investigation is ongoing and at an early stage. There is no further information to share about the investigation at this time,” prosecutor Henrik Soderman said in a statement just hours after neighbouring Finland said it had also opened a police investigation.
NATO members were jointly assessing what happened, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian armed forces said, adding that naval forces have stepped up their patrols.
“It’s not a partial damage. It’s full damage,” said a spokesperson for Arelion, the owner and operator of the cable linking Lithuania and Sweden.
Cinia, which owns the cable linking Finland and Germany, said it was not possible to say what might have caused the breach until repairs had started.
The European Union’s top diplomat said on Tuesday that it was not possible to attribute the cutting of the cables to anyone.
“We cannot attribute these incidents to anyone. It would be irresponsible from my side to attribute this, let’s say, incident or accident or whatever you want to call it, to anyone. It would be putting wood to the fire. That is not my intention,” Josep Borrell said during a news conference in Brussels.
While Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said he had no specific information about who was to blame, he added: “We see increasing activity of…