NATO to enhance military presence in Baltic Sea following undersea cable incident, alliance chief says

The NATO chief on Friday expressed full solidarity and support to investigation into "possible sabotage of undersea cables," pointing out enhancing military presence in the Baltic Sea.

Mark Rutte said that he held a phone conversation with Finland's President Alexander Stubb about the ongoing Finnish-led investigation into possible sabotage of undersea cables.

"I expressed my full solidarity and support. #NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea," he wrote on X.

Rutte also held a phone talk with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal on Thursday, over the incident, saying that NATO stands in solidarity with allies and condemns any attacks on critical infrastructure.

On Wednesday, Finnish authorities said that an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia had been damaged, marking the latest in a series of incidents involving critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

Finnish power grid operator Fingrid said on Wednesday the Estlink 2 interconnector went offline at 12:26 pm local time (1026GMT).

Fingrid's head of operations Arto Pahkin told public broadcaster Yle that sabotage could not be ruled out and investigations are continuing.

On Thursday, Finnish police said, in cooperation with other authorities they are investigating the rupture of the Estlink 2 power transmission cable within Finland's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Gulf of Finland

The Helsinki Police Department and the Border Guard have conducted a tactical operation on the vessel while the authorities have taken investigative measures on the vessel, said the police.

The Baltic Sea has been the scene of several high-profile infrastructure incidents since the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine in February 2022, which heightened tensions in the region.