NATO launches Baltic naval operation following undersea sabotage

Jan 14, 2025 | Defence, Politics

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

NATO has launched a new military mission to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, an idea that was proposed by Poland last year in the wake of sabotage targeting undersea energy and communication cables.

Speaking today at a NATO summit in Helsinki, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that “all signs point to Russia” being responsible for the damage.

NATO’s operation, known as Baltic Sentry, aims to strengthen regional security by deploying frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and naval drones, as well as integrating national surveillance systems.

“We are determined to deter, detect and counter any attempts at sabotage,” said the leaders of NATO’s Baltic countries in a joint statement.

“Any attack against our infrastructure will be met with a robust and determined response. We stand ready to attribute hostile actions committed by malignant actors, as appropriate.”

 

NATO itself – whose secretary general, Mark Rutte, also attended the summit and signed the declaration – said that the operation would “improve allies’ ability to respond to destabilising acts”.

The decision comes as regional leaders grapple with a series of sabotage incidents, including damage to undersea cables connecting Estonia and Finland on 25 December.

Last November, Tusk called for a “navy policing” mission in the Baltic and said that he would seek to “convince our partners” to adopt the idea. Soon after, Poland and Sweden signed a strategic partnership on defence that committed them to bolstering security around the Baltic Sea.

“Countries bordering the Baltic Sea need permanent and effective security control,” Tusk said after today’s meeting, quoted by the Rzeczpospolita daily.

He noted that Poland’s own navy still “has quite limited capabilities” and it is therefore “important for us that NATO as a whole has decided to participate in this security project”.

The Polish prime minister also declared that, with regard to recent cases of undersea sabotage, “all traces and clues lead to Russia”. He noted that at today’s summit leaders had also discussed measures to tackle the “shadow fleet” of vessels that Russia uses to export embargoed oil through the Baltic.

Although NATO did not disclose how long its Baltic Sentry operation would last, Tusk said that it was initially planned for 90 days. However, he expressed hope that it would be continued for as long as needed after that.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Kancelaria Premiera / flickr.com (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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