Mark Rutte: NATO Will Increase Efforts To Fight The Threat Of Sabotage Between Russia And China

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Mark Rutte on Tuesday said his organization would increase the division of intelligence and protection of critical infrastructure in the face of the threat of "hostile" sabotage against allies by Russia and China.

"Over the past few years, Russia and China have tried to destabilize our country with acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and energy extortion to intimidate us," Rutte told reporters.

"NATO allies will continue to unite to face this threat through various steps, including greater intelligence sharing and better protection against critical infrastructure," he explained.

NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels this week are expected to come up with a new strategy to counter hybrid threats, a term that includes propaganda, political interference, fraud, sabotage of key infrastructure, and other tactics outside conventional military domains.

"There is a continuous and continuous hybrid campaign every day against NATO allies," a senior NATO official told reporters on Tuesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed to "an increase in Russia's desire to take risks in terms of sabotage for physical damage and threats to the lives of people within our country".

Western security officials said the fires at courier depots in England, Germany, and Poland in July were part of a trial of Russia's plans to trigger an 'explosion' on cargo flights to the United States.

In addition, European countries are continuing to investigate whether cutting off two fiber optic telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea in November, one connecting Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, constitutes sabotage.

Russia has rejected various allegations of involvement in hybrid acts.

"It makes no sense to continue blaming Russia for anything for no reason whatsoever," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month when asked about the Baltic cable cut.

Separately, China has also rejected German accusations that Beijing was behind cyber attacks against German government agencies in 2021 as baseless accusations.

Western officials say they face challenges in agreeing on how to respond to alleged attacks, as some NATO members fear an escalating tension with Russia.

NATO members are also divided on how much to share about their findings on alleged sabotage cases, with some preferring to announce the incident to the public, while others believe it will be counterproductive.