Investigate Damage To Gas Pipes And Member State Data Cables, NATO Secretary General Promises Firm Response If Proven Deliberate Attack

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. (Source: NATO)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg said it would discuss damage to gas pipelines and data cables between its two member states, Finland and Estonia, promising a firm response if proven to be due to intentional attacks.

Damage to the Balticconnector pipe and telecommunications cable was confirmed on Tuesday, after one of two pipeline operators, Finland's Gasgrid, recorded a drop in pressure and a possible leak on Sunday night during a storm.

However, Helsinki, who conducted the investigation, said the possibility of the damage was caused by "foreign activity". This sparked regional energy security concerns, driving higher gas prices.

"The important thing now is to determine what happened and how this happened," Stoltenberg said.

"If this proves to be a deliberate attack on NATO's important infrastructure, of course this would be a serious attack, but this will also be responded to with a unified and firm response from NATO," he said.

Previously, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation said "external signs" had been found on the seabed beside the damaged pipe. For investigation purposes, they are reviewing the movement of ships in the area at the time of the rupture of the pipe.

"We are now focusing on technical investigations at the site of pipe damage and checking the seabed at the scene," said bureau chief Robin Lardot.

Meanwhile, the head of investigation, Risto Lohi, said the anchor damage could not be ruled out, adding: "Right now it seems the damage is caused by mechanical force, not explosion."

NATO defense ministers plan to discuss the damage today, when they hold a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told reporters on Wednesday evening.

"We know that the infrastructure is vulnerable and needs to be better protected," said Hakkanen.

It is known that the pipeline stretches between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia across the Finnish Gulf, part of the Baltic Sea that stretches east to Russian waters and ends up in the port of St. Petersburg.

Pipes and telecommunication cables run in parallel at a significant' distance to each other, according to the cable operator, Elisa.

Both were damaged "in the same period" on Sunday morning, Finnish investigators said, with the pipes cut believed to be in Finnish waters while the cable cut occurred in Estonian waters.

The Balticconnector itself is operated jointly by the operator of the Estonian Elering electricity and gas system along with the operator of the Finnish gas transmission system Gasgrid, each of which has half of the pipes.

The operator said in a statement planning and implementation of pipe repairs would take at least five months, while gas transfers would likely not resume before April.

Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as disturbing, saying at a regular press conference, an attack in September 2022 on the Nord Stream pipeline crossing the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany had become a dangerous precedent.

The Balticconnector pipeline opened in December 2019, to help integrate the gas market in the region, thus providing greater supply flexibility to Finland and Baltic countries such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.