The rupture of two data cables in the Baltic Sea is being investigated by Sweden as sabotage, and it would not surprise Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) if it was an external actor. She says this on her way home from a trip to Ukraine, where she has been following the case in general.
- If the immediate assessment is that it is sabotage, and it comes from outside, then it is obviously serious. I am not surprised that it can happen, says Mette Frederiksen.
Both a Swedish-Lithuanian and a Finnish-German data cable have been damaged in recent days. Swedish police have begun an initial investigation into the case.
Denmark is following the case closely in light of the explosions of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September 2022. That case is still under investigation by German authorities.
- We are very aware of what the relevant authorities say, and I would not be surprised if it was an external actor who carried out sabotage, but that is probably as close as we can get right now, says Mette Frederiksen.
The first cable failure occurred on Sunday morning and the next less than 24 hours later. The Danish navy has followed a Chinese vessel out of the Baltic Sea according to openly available satellite data. This is considered interesting by the authorities, according to information from Swedish broadcaster SVT. Mette Frederiksen expects more of the kind.
- There is a risk of hybrid attacks, cyber attacks and attacks on critical infrastructure. We are seeing more and more unrest on several fronts and edges. Whether what we see most recently is relevant to that, I don't know, the investigation will have to show, she says.
The cable breaks have not caused any disruption to data traffic, but Sweden considers it serious that critical infrastructure on the seabed is being destroyed through possible sabotage.
Conflict researcher: It could be revenge
Conflict researcher Marco Nilsson at Jönköping University believes it could be revenge from Russia because the US has given permission for Ukraine to attack with long-range missiles into Russia.
- There is a high probability that it is a reaction from Russia. Especially since it happens right after the US allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia, he tells the Swedish news agency TT.
It shows how vulnerable the infrastructure in the West is if foreign actors are willing to go that far.
- The system is based on mutual trust between the countries around the Baltic Sea and those who are active in shipping there. When there are international tensions and there is a war going on, it shows how vulnerable our entire infrastructure is, says Nilsson.
/ritzau/
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