HELSINKI (AP) — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced Tuesday that the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region.
Rutte said at a meeting in Helsinki with leaders of NATO’s Baltic Sea countries that the effort would be called Baltic Sentry.
“It will involve a range of assets, including frigates and maritime patrol aircraft, among others, and it will increase our vigilance in the Baltic Sea,” Rutte told reporters. He also said a small fleet of Navy drones will be deployed “to provide enhanced surveillance and deterrence.”
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The meeting follows a series of incidents in the Baltic Sea that have increased concerns about possible Russian activities in the region.
Announcing the new operation, Rutte noted that more than 95% of internet traffic is secured via undersea cables, and that 1.3 million kilometers of cables guarantee an estimated $10 trillion in financial transactions every day.
“Across the alliance, we have seen elements of a campaign to destabilize our societies through cyber attacks, assassination attempts and sabotage, including possible sabotage of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea,” he said.
Rutte said NATO’s opponents should know that the alliance will not accept attacks on its critical infrastructure, underlining that “we will do everything in our power to ensure that we fight back, that we can see what is happening and then be able to take the next step.” measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”