NATO is set to strengthen its intelligence collaboration to address potential sabotage from Russia and China targeting its infrastructure, as announced by the alliance’s chief. This initiative comes in the wake of increasing concerns over recent incidents, including damage to a data cable linking Sweden and Finland.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, laid out the plan during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. He pointed to the persistent dangers from Russia and China: “Over the past years, these nations have attempted to destabilize our countries through acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and energy blackmail.”
Meanwhile, Rutte readdressed that NATO “will continue to stand together against this challenge,” including intelligence sharing on a much higher level and better protection of infrastructure.
This seriousness of the intelligence-sharing move comes with Sweden and Finland investigating the cutting of an undersea fibre-optic cable crossing their border. Maimed in two places, the cut had left thousands of customers without services.
The Swedish minister of civil defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, suspected sabotage without naming anyone. Finnish officials said there was no criminal activity observed yet, but police are still investigating. “We take the situation seriously,” Lulu Ranne, Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications wrote on X.
According to Nordic telecom companies GlobalConnect and Elisa, one of the breaches could have been caused by excavation work, while the investigation concerning the second incident is ongoing.
The incident came after two undersea data cables in the Baltic Sea were severed last week in Swedish waters. The incidents are being investigated by authorities from Finland, Sweden, and Germany. In a previous interview, the defense minister of Germany said the damage might have been an act of sabotage, but nothing was yet certain.
In a related development, Sweden has formally asked China to cooperate in the investigation of the Baltic Sea cable incidents after a China-flagged ship was seen in the vicinity of the incidents. On Tuesday, the UK’s cybersecurity chief warned that Russia and China are “hostile states” increasingly using technology to cause maximum disruption and damage.
