Suspected cable break in Swedish economic zone: “Begins to become increasingly strange”
It was on Friday morning that the police announced that they have launched a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage. This is to gain access to tools to clarify what has happened and “whether it is a new or old injury”.
“It is very scarce information, you do not know when it happens and thus it is not possible to rule out that it happened in connection with previous injuries to the same cable,” says Hans Liwång, professor at the Swedish Defense College, to TV4 News.
The same cable was damaged, among other things, in November 2024, when the Chinese ship YI Peng 3 dragged its anchor along the bottom of the Baltic Sea and during the cable break that took place on Christmas Day.
– It is becoming increasingly strange that there are so many cable breaks in such a short time with such limited geographical surface. A lot of people point out that there is something fuff’s running here, says Hugo von Essen, an analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies, to TV4 News.
Paasikivi: Think Russia is behind
There have been suspicions against both Russia and China since the cable break began to end up in the discourse and being investigated as sabotage.
– It is a remarkable accumulation of cable break in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan. It is a remarkable coincidence if it would be bad seamanship, says the military expert and former Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi to TV4 News and continues:
– I think there is a motive and that this is carried out by a state actor, that is, Russia. In our immediate area, it is a clear Russian interest to not only destroy communication, electricity supply or gas pipelines, but also to destabilize. These are parts of a hybrid warfare that we see in different ways, says Joakim Paasikivi.
He believes that Russia has soul to do this to create uncertainty and weaken society in Europe.
The European Commission launches action plan
On the same day that the information on another cable break came, the European Commission launches an action plan against the cable break at sea. Among other things, one should use sanctions and diplomatic measures against hostile actors and the so -called “shadow fleet”.
“The fact that we are investigating potential cases of Sabotage against EU infrastructure shows how serious the threat we are facing,” writes Austrian EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner in a press release on the plan presented in Helsinki during Friday.
– We have seen that almost everything can be used as a weapon against us. We cannot accept it, says Finnish EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard comments on the new suspect cable break for TV4 News. She states that you work closely with Finland on the issue.
– I am worried that we are seeing an extension of the so -called shadow fleet. It is about vessels that transport oil in violation of oil prize roofs that apply within G7 and which thus feather Russian war economics, says Maria Malmer Stenergard.