An undersea communication cable connecting Sweden and Estonia has been “damaged by means of external force or tampering,” the Swedish government said.
The Swedish government previously announced that it had received information that a telecommunications cable connecting the two countries had been damaged, without being able to identify the cause.
The cable is believed to have been damaged at the same time as a gas pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland, which authorities also believe to have been caused by “external” activity.
In response to the damage to the underwater infrastructure, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced last week that it would increase patrols in the Baltic Sea, including additional surveillance and reconnaissance flights.
Following the shutdown of the Balticconnector gas pipeline in Finland, ten northern European countries, including Sweden, Finland and Estonia, agreed this month to strengthen surveillance of critical infrastructure.
“There is a spaghetti of cables, pipelines and infrastructure on the seabed that is absolutely fundamental for data traffic… and everything that is controlled digitally,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, adding that “the vulnerabilities are much, much bigger nowadays”.
Finnish police announced that the focus of their investigation into suspected sabotage of the Balticconnector pipeline was a Chinese ship.
Three pipelines in the Baltic Sea that carried natural gas from Russia to Western Europe ruptured last year as a result of underwater explosions.
