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Finnish president says situation 'under control' after cables damage in Baltic Sea

According to Alexander Stubb, the cables were "significantly damaged"

STOCKHOLM, December 27. /TASS/. The situation is under control after the damage to several cables in the Baltic Sea, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.

"We want to say very clearly: the situation is under control, we must work together to ensure that our critical infrastructure is not damaged by foreign actors," the AFP news agency quoted the Finnish leader as saying at a press conference.

According to Stubb, the cables were "significantly damaged". The Yle news outlet, in turn, quoted the Finnish leader as saying that Finland and Estonia had agreed on a NATO presence near critical infrastructure facilities. Stubb also said that Russia had not contacted Finland through diplomatic channels about the incident. "If we learn that it was sabotage [by Russia], we will definitely attribute it to Russia, but now, following Finnish procedures, we won't rush," the news outlet quoted the president as saying.

Earlier on Friday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the alliance would increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea because of "possible possible sabotage of undersea cables."

On December 25, the EstLink 2 power cable, which connects Finland’s energy grid with Estonia through the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, was disconnected due to an emergency. Finland’s Fingrid power grid company reported that its repairs would take several months. Finnish police and Border Guard are investigating whether a foreign vessel was involved in the incident. Later, the Postimees newspaper reported that Estonian companies had reported damage to three cables between the two countries.

Finland and Estonia are connected by two sets of high-voltage submarine cables. EstLink 1 was launched in 2007 and EstLink2 in 204. In 2022, it was reported that EstLink 3 will be built, which is expected to be completed by 2035. EstLink 2 is over 170 kilometers long, of which 147 kilometers run underwater along the northern part of the Gulf of Finland.

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