A series of cable breaks in the Baltic Sea over the past year and a half may simply have been the result of accidents - rather than, for example, Russian or Chinese sabotage. This is what the major American newspaper The Washington Post wrote on Sunday.
The newspaper has spoken to several American and European officials. The sources are not named, but according to the newspaper they state that there is an increasing perception among both American and European investigators that they have been accidents.
The Baltic Sea is located east of Denmark. In addition to Denmark, the sea is surrounded by, among others, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the Baltic countries.
The Washington Post mentions in the newspaper's article three different episodes that have taken place in the Baltic Sea over the past year and a half. The most recent example is from December 25. Here, the tanker "Eagle S" has been suspected of sabotage after breaking undersea cables between Finland and Estonia. The ship had sailed from St. Petersburg, Russia.
The other two cases involve the Chinese ships "Yi Peng 3" and "Newnew Polar Bear". They have been suspected in cases of cable breaks in November 2024 and October 2023, respectively.
May be an accident
The cases have led to extensive investigations into possible sabotage, and the suspected sabotage has also been a hot topic at the political level.
However, according to investigators, the evidence collected so far indicates that it may have been an accident caused by, among other things, an inexperienced crew and worn-out ships. This is reported by The Washington Post.
According to the newspaper, American officials say that there are "obvious explanations" for how the incidents occurred by accident. At the same time, there is a lack of evidence that these were deliberate actions on the part of Russia.
The events in the Baltic Sea have prompted the Western defense alliance NATO to strengthen security in the area. This was agreed during a summit in Helsinki earlier this month. In this connection, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen (S), said that she is "deeply concerned about the situation in the Baltic Sea".
- We must cooperate more closely. And I am very pleased that NATO is now directly involved, she said.
/ritzau/
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