Early on Monday, a key undersea internet cable connecting Finland to Germany was damaged in the Baltic Sea near the Swedish island of Gotland. THE cable damage was reported a few hours later by the Finnish company Ciniawhich operates the cable.
The case does not only affect Finland: a similar cable between Lithuania and Sweden was also damaged at almost the same time.
The proximity of the two cases and the geopolitical environment raise many questions.
The damaged cable called C-Lion1 is the only direct data connection between Finland and Central Europe. The operator of the cable, the Finnish state-owned company Cinia, sent a repair ship to the site, but the circumstances of the event immediately sparked speculation.
Although Internet access currently operates through alternative routes, the situation highlights the strategic importance and vulnerability of such infrastructure.
The data cable between Lithuania and Sweden stretched 10 meters near the Finnish cable, and experts say it is likely that an “external influence” caused the damage in both cases. CEO of Cinia, Ari-Jussi Knaapila emphasizedthat
such injuries do not occur without external influence.
The incidents immediately drew attention to the possibility of Russian sabotage. Magyar Nemzet also reported that a Russian spy ship was escorted out of the Irish Sea after entering Irish-controlled waters and patrolling an area where critical power and internet cables are located under the sea. Russia has already threatened sanctions against Europe’s infrastructure and
according to NATO intelligence reports, Moscow has created a secret submarine fleet for such operations.
After Finland joined NATO, the tensions in the Baltic Sea region continued to increase. Since then, Finland has been constantly warning about threats to critical infrastructure. On Monday, the Finnish government issued new crisis management guidelines to the public, with a particular focus on disruption of data communication systems.
Strong concerns were also expressed on the part of Lithuania. The local service providers clearly believe that an external force is behind the incident.
This is clearly not an accident
– declared Andrius Semeskeviciustechnology manager of the Lithuanian company Telia. The recovery may take up to several weeks, and the results of the full investigation are still pending.
Cover photo: In this photo taken on Oct. 12, 2015, the C-Lion1 undersea telecommunications cable is laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea by the cable-laying vessel ‘Ile de Brehat’ off the coast of Helsinki, Finland. (Photo: AFP)
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
