Need to detect and to counter sabotage by the Russian shadow fleet, damaging critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea: Closing statements by Henna VIRKKUNEN, Executive VP of the EC and by Adam SZŁAPKA, Polish Minister for European Affairs

MEPs debate on the need to detect and to counter sabotage by the Russian shadow fleet, damaging critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. In recent months, there has been an increase in in instances of ships damaging undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The latest incident occurred in late December 2024 with the severing of an electricity cable running between Finland and Estonia. Shortly after, the Finnish Coast Guard boarded the oil tanker Eagle S and steered it to a Finnish port. Although officially sailing under a Cook Islands flag, there are suspicions the vessel is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”. Following these incidents, NATO has launched a new mission to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Closing statements by Henna VIRKKUNEN, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, and by Adam SZŁAPKA, Polish Minister for European Affairs.