Poland Wants To Start A Ship That Damages Telecommunications Cables In The Baltic Sea Sanctioned

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski/PHOTO via Instagram @radek_sikorski

JAKARTA - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski emphasized that ship captains who damage underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea such as cables or telecommunications pipes must be subject to EU sanctions to prevent repeated measures.

Sikorski said Poland, which holds the post of president of the European Union's turn, wanted the proposal to be part of the next 16 sanctions package against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which is currently being discussed among EU governments.

The Baltic Sea region is in a high alert after a series of power lines, telecommunications and gas pipeline blackouts since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, all caused by ships dragging anchors on the seabed to damage infrastructure.

"I feel frustrated that freedom of navigation is being exploited by old ships registered under the tax-free country flag," Sikorski told reporters in Brussels.

"These ships are not insured or have insurance that cannot actually be activated. And when you are in international waters, you can't even stop and search. Because dropping an anchor in international waters is not a crime according to the Convention (Sea Law), even if it's detrimental to something," he said.

NATO recently increased its presence in the Baltic with frigates, aircraft, and naval drones to prevent destructive acts, often carried out by ships manned by Russia or China.

Sikorski said Russian warships and spy ships appeared to be mapping underwater infrastructure, not only in the Baltic, but also in the North Sea, so what we are seeing now may only be the beginning of the bad things to come.

"We have asked EU authorities to start imposing sanctions on crew members. We know their names because they are placed in European ports. When they do damage and don't stop and don't explain themselves, they can be put on the individual sanctions list. This should be a deterrent to do the same thing," he said.