German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has declared that the damage to two undersea data cables in the Baltic Sea must be investigated as an act of sabotage, Bloomberg reports.
Two cables were severed early Monday: one linking Finland and Germany, and another connecting Lithuania and Sweden. Finnish authorities reported the Finland-Germany cable, the Helsinki-Rostock link, was cut by an external impact. All four countries involved are NATO members.
“This is a very clear sign that something is going on there,” Pistorius said Tuesday before a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels.
He dismissed accidental damage, such as from anchors, saying, “Nobody believes that these cables were cut by accident.” He added that while concrete proof of responsibility is lacking, “we must assume, without knowing for sure, that we’re talking about sabotage.”
This incident echoes similar events in the Baltic Sea since the war in Ukraine broke out, including an incident over a year ago where a ship’s anchor severed two data cables and a gas pipeline. Russia has consistently denied involvement in all such incidents.
The 1,200-kilometer Helsinki-Rostock fiber optic cable, crucial for data centers, is likely completely severed, according to Cinia Oy, the owner and operator. A repair ship is en route to assess the damage. While Cinia CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila stated that the cause remains undetermined, Pistorius’s comments strongly suggest foul play.
A previous incident involving the Balticconnector gas pipeline, reportedly ruptured by a Hong Kong-flagged vessel, was attributed to storm conditions by a Chinese probe, a conclusion disputed by a senior Estonian official.
