Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said it was highly unlikely that all four cable breaks in the Baltic Sea were accidental. She stressed that the Finnish government was continuing to investigate.
"We Finns rarely believe anything with absolute certainty. We like to investigate and work based on facts. With all cases, we are still in the investigation phase, especially those in which Finland is directly involved. Therefore, we cannot make any judgments or conclusions before that time," she said.
In the interview, the Finnish diplomat noted that Russia's "dark fleet" "does pose a significant threat" to the Baltic states. "We need to control the dark fleet, regardless of whether these incidents are intentional or not," she said.
Foreign Minister Valtonen affirmed that Finland will abide by international law and prevent countries from seizing ships in international waters. She noted that freedom of navigation is extremely important to Russia, especially when Russia benefits from freedom of navigation in areas such as the English Channel and the Skagerrak.
Since November last year, commercial oil tankers have severed four cables in the Baltic Sea by dragging their anchors on the seabed.
On Christmas Day, the Eagle S - a Dubai-owned, Indian-managed, Cook Islands-flagged tanker - severed the Estlink 2 power cable between Estonia and Finland.
Previously, in November, the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3 was accused of severing two cables, the BCS East-West Interlink and C-Lion1, by dragging its anchor over a distance of more than 160km. China also admitted that its ship accidentally broke the Balticconnector gas pipeline in 2023.
In January this year, a telecommunications cable between Sweden and Latvia was severed by the Vezhen, a cargo ship owned by a Bulgarian company. Swedish investigators concluded that the cable break was accidental.
