NATO to Step up Baltic Sea Patrols as Finland Probes Possible Sabotage of Undersea Cables

This photo provided by Rajavartiosto (Finnish Border Guard) on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, shows the oil tanker Eagle S, background, and the Finnish der Guard ship Turva at sea outside Porkkalanniemi, Finland. The Eagle S was sailing at the same time in the area where the Finland-Estonia electrical link was disrupted on Wednesday (Rajavartiosto via AP)
This photo provided by Rajavartiosto (Finnish Border Guard) on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, shows the oil tanker Eagle S, background, and the Finnish der Guard ship Turva at sea outside Porkkalanniemi, Finland. The Eagle S was sailing at the same time in the area where the Finland-Estonia electrical link was disrupted on Wednesday (Rajavartiosto via AP)
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NATO to Step up Baltic Sea Patrols as Finland Probes Possible Sabotage of Undersea Cables

This photo provided by Rajavartiosto (Finnish Border Guard) on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, shows the oil tanker Eagle S, background, and the Finnish der Guard ship Turva at sea outside Porkkalanniemi, Finland. The Eagle S was sailing at the same time in the area where the Finland-Estonia electrical link was disrupted on Wednesday (Rajavartiosto via AP)
This photo provided by Rajavartiosto (Finnish Border Guard) on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, shows the oil tanker Eagle S, background, and the Finnish der Guard ship Turva at sea outside Porkkalanniemi, Finland. The Eagle S was sailing at the same time in the area where the Finland-Estonia electrical link was disrupted on Wednesday (Rajavartiosto via AP)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Friday that the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea region as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week, The AP reported.

Finnish authorities seized control of the ship, the Eagle S, on Thursday as they tried to establish whether it had damaged a power cable linking Finland and Estonia and several data cables. It was the latest in a string of incidents involving the disruption of key infrastructure in the region.

In a post on X, Rutte said that he had spoken to Finland’s President Alexander Stubb “about the ongoing Finnish-led investigation into possible sabotage of undersea cables.” Rutte said that “NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea.”

Asked for details about what might be done and when, NATO headquarters would say only that the 32-country alliance “remains vigilant and is working to provide further support, including by enhancing our military presence” in the region.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (832-mile) border with Russia, joined NATO in 2023, abandoning a decades-old policy of neutrality.

In October 2023, in response to similar incidents, NATO and its allies deployed more maritime patrol aircraft, long-distance radar planes and drones on surveillance and reconnaissance flights, while a fleet of minehunters was also dispatched to the region.

The Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands but has been described by Finnish customs officials and European Union officials as being part of Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers shipping oil and gas in defiance of international sanctions imposed over its war on Ukraine.

The aging vessels, often with obscure ownership, routinely operate without Western-regulated insurance. Russia’s use of the vessels has raised environmental concerns about accidents given their age and uncertain insurance coverage.

The Eagle S’s anchor is suspected of causing damage to the cable, Finland’s Yle state broadcaster has reported, relying on police statements. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the seizure on Friday but declined to comment.

After a high-level meeting about the incident, Stubb posted on X that “the situation is under control. We have no reason to be worried,” while adding that the investigation continues. He said that Finland and Estonia had requested extra NATO help.

He said new measures could include “inspections of the insurance certificates of vessels” in the region. Stubb added that “we are also looking at ways, based on international maritime law, to respond more effectively to similar incidents in the future.”

The Estlink-2 power cable, which takes electricity from Finland to Estonia across the Baltic Sea, went down on Wednesday but had little impact on services. The incident follows damage to two data cables and the Nord Stream gas pipelines, both of which have been termed sabotage.

Those data cables — one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden — were severed in November. Germany’s defense minister said “sabotage” was the likely cause but he didn’t provide evidence or say who might have been responsible.

The Nord Stream pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. Authorities have said the cause was sabotage and launched criminal investigations.

NATO had already boosted patrols near undersea infrastructure after the Nord Stream pipeline was hit. Last year, it also set up a coordination cell to deepen ties between governments, armed forces, and the defense industry and better protect undersea installations.



Greenland Independence Is Possible but Joining the US Unlikely, Denmark Says

The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Greenland Independence Is Possible but Joining the US Unlikely, Denmark Says

The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
The Greenlandic (L) and Danish flags are pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Copenhagen on January 8, 2025. (AFP)

Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but is unlikely to become a US state, Denmark's foreign minister said on Wednesday after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out force to take control of the Arctic island.

Greenland's leader held talks on Wednesday with the Danish king in Copenhagen, a day after Trump's remarks thrust the fate of the mineral-rich and strategically important island, which is under Danish rule, to the top of world headlines.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said on Tuesday he would not rule out using military or economic action to make Greenland part of the United States. The same day, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., made a private visit to Greenland.

Greenland, part of NATO through the membership of Denmark, has strategic significance for the US military and for its ballistic missile early-warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island.

The president-elect has indicated he would pursue a more combative foreign policy that disregards traditional diplomatic formalities.

Greenland, the world's biggest island, has been part of Denmark for 600 years although its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs. The island's government led by Prime Minister Mute Egede aims for eventual independence.

"We fully recognize that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they materialize, Greenland will become independent, though hardly with an ambition to become a federal state in the United States," Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.

He told reporters the United States' heightened security concerns in the Arctic were legitimate following increased Russian and Chinese activity in the region.

"I don't think that we're in a foreign policy crisis," he said. "We are open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the American ambitions are fulfilled."

Still, although Denmark itself played down the seriousness of Trump's threat to its territory, the returning president's openly stated ambition to expand US borders has jolted European allies less than two weeks before he takes office.

France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Europe would not let other nations attack its sovereign borders, although he did not believe the US would invade.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed surprise at Trump's comments about Greenland and Canada, underlining that European partners unanimously uphold the inviolability of borders as a cornerstone of international law.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Greenland's relations with Denmark have lately been strained by allegations of colonial-era mistreatment of Greenlanders. Egede has said the island is not for sale, while in his New Year speech he stepped up his push for independence. Denmark says the territory's fate can be decided only by Greenlanders.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday she could not imagine Trump's ambitions would lead to US military intervention in Greenland. Denmark's military capabilities there are limited to four inspection vessels, a Challenger surveillance plane and dog sled patrols.

Responding to Trump's threat of tariffs against Denmark, which according to analysts at Danske Bank could potentially be "quite harmful to Danish companies, Frederiksen said she did not think a trade war with the United States was a good way forward.

Denmark is home to Novo Nordisk, Europe's most valuable company, which makes weight-loss drug Wegovy that has become hugely popular in the United States, the Nordic country's biggest trading partner.

The Danish royal palace gave no details ahead of King Frederik's meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday with Greenland's Prime Minister Egede.

While many Greenlanders dream of independence from Denmark, the king remains popular on the island, having spent extended periods there, including a four-month expedition on the ice sheet. Last month, the royal court modified its coat of arms, enlarging a polar bear that symbolizes Greenland.

"I'm sure the king is really the person best placed in Denmark to deal with this issue right now because he has a long history with Greenland," Damien Degeorges, a Reykjavik-based consultant specializing in Greenland, told Reuters.

"He's popular in Greenland. So he can clearly be helpful to the Danish-Greenlandic relationship."

Trump already raised the issue of the US taking over Greenland during his first presidency, but his latest remarks still left many Danes baffled.

"I find it extremely ridiculous," said Jeppe Finne Sorenson, a data engineer in the Danish capital. "We have an alliance, we're allies. So this doesn't really respect that."