On Monday, two underwater fibre-optic cables between Finland and Germany were discovered severed, an incident that both nations have confirmed is under investigation.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that the damage to the cables appeared to be intentional. “No one believes these cables were accidentally cut,” he said during an EU defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Pistorius added, “We must assume, although we do not yet know, that this was an act of sabotage.”
Both Germany and Finland announced the discovery of the damaged fibre-optic cables, which provide data transmission between the two countries, and confirmed that investigations were underway. While the responsible party remains unknown, the two countries stressed the timing of the incident, which comes amid ongoing threats to European security, including Russia’s war against Ukraine and the rising risk of hybrid warfare from malicious actors.
Pistorius suggested that the damage could be attributed to “hybrid actors,” a term often linked to Russia’s unconventional warfare tactics. “It is clear that we must strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure,” added Finland’s Defence Minister, Antti Häkkänen, who was also present at the Brussels meeting.
In a joint statement, the two countries emphasized that the incident immediately raised concerns about intentional damage, reflecting the tense security environment in Europe. Finnish state-owned data services provider Cinia confirmed that the damage to the cable, which spans nearly 1,200 kilometers from Helsinki to the German port city of Rostock, was detected on Monday.
This incident is not the first to involve damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. On Sunday, a 218-kilometer internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland island also experienced a loss of service, as reported by a Swedish telecommunications company.
In 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea were damaged in explosions, sparking numerous conspiracy theories about the responsible parties, with unconfirmed rumors implicating the US, Ukraine, or Russia.
