Finland and Germany investigate sabotage • The expert’s theories • The armed forces follow developments
The sea cable C-Lion 1 that runs between Finland and Germany has broken in the Swedish economic zone outside Öland. The discovery was made on the night of Monday.
Later on Monday, Lithuanian media reported that a data cable between Sweden and Lithuania had been cut or damaged. None of the events should have affected the countries’ data traffic, but are taken very seriously in several countries. Finland and Germany are investigating the incident as sabotage, according to AFP, and the Swedish government is also following developments.
“In light of the serious security situation, the government is following developments very closely and is in contact with its authorities. It is absolutely central that it is clarified why we currently have two cables in the Baltic Sea that are not working,” writes Carl-Oskar Bohlin, minister for civil defence, in a comment to TT.
The expert: Probably about an accident
At the same time, it is relatively common for underwater cables to be damaged, usually by mistake or wear and tear, says Hans Liwång, professor at the Norwegian Defense University.
– We are talking about several hundred cables a year, so it happens every week. There are quite a lot of cables, normally there are usually accidents with, for example, anchors or there is wear and tear.
The two cables must lie deep on the seabed, which according to Liwång indicates that it is probably not a matter of wear and tear.
– Wear usually occurs at the edges of the beach, it seems to be an external impact. Then it could be a mistake, or sabotage carried out on purpose, says Liwång.
The armed forces follow the development
Given the security situation in Europe and the previous sabotage against Nordstream in the Baltic Sea, Liwång understands that the damaged cables have been noticed.
– The second cable was released after the first became known. Had there been no reporting of the first, the second might never have been known. Most events take place without a discussion in the media, says Liwång and adds:
– But it is good that both the Armed Forces are looking at this and also in our neighboring countries, then you will see what you come up with.
The expert: There are several incentives for sabotage
Exactly what could be behind the incidents with the two cables is too early to say, but it cannot be ruled out that it could be a deliberate act in one of the cases and that there could be several incentives for such an act, Liwång believes .
– There have been very few, but we do have known sabotage with Nordstream and with a clear connection to the war in Ukraine. Now, if sabotage is behind this, it is reasonable that it has to do with the tensions that exist in Europe as a result of the war and the security tensions that exist between Russia and NATO.