The Baltic and Scandinavian countries plan to enhance monitoring of ships in the Baltic Sea following damage to an underwater cable between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas announced this on Monday. According to Paluckas, the countries are working on a plan to secure energy infrastructure.
“A plan of action is being developed that will be coordinated not only among the three Baltic states but also with the Scandinavian countries to ensure, first and foremost, specific monitoring—tracking ship movements and assessing risks to prevent incidents in the future, including through technological means,” the Prime Minister told reporters.
“The action plan is currently being prepared,” he added.
Paluckas noted that the risk of damage to marine cables and sabotage is increasing, adding that disruptions to power cables “could cost the economy tens to hundreds of millions of euros due to higher costs per kilowatt-hour.”
“We will also have our own offshore wind farms, which also require additional attention,” he said.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said on Monday that Lithuania is stepping up additional measures to monitor energy infrastructure after the damage to the EstLink 2 cable.
“We are activating certain monitoring and management plans and considering how to strengthen infrastructure protection. All plans were prepared earlier, but now it is a matter of activating or enhancing attention. This attention is now being intensified,” he told reporters.
Next year, the Public Security Service (VST) will begin guarding LitPol Link facilities in Alytus, NordBalt infrastructure in Klaipeda, the Litgrid data center in Vilnius, and the Lithuanian Power Plant in Elektrėnai. The government approved this plan in early December.
