RIGA - The disruption of the subsea cable makes one consider faster ways of cooperation between countries or some mutual recognition mechanisms, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) told journalists following a meeting with visiting Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Tuesday.
Earlier, President Edgars Rinkevics said that the option to close the Baltic Sea should be "kept on the table". Asked about her opinion on the president's suggestion, Braze said noted the uniqueness of the Baltic Sea - on one side, the three Danish straits connect it with the North Sea, but on the other side, the Baltic Sea is effectively a lake with estuaries of rivers but no connection with other oceans.
Braze underlined that Denmark has a special responsibility under international law, which it has assumed, to ensure international maritime traffic.
"This is a question that should be asked more to Danish colleagues. Theoretically, different constructions are possible, but in practice Denmark is committed to respecting international law and ensuring free navigation," the Latvian foreign minister said.
Commenting on the rupture of the subsea fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden, Braze referred to relatively regular training exercises that are held for the protection of various critical infrastructure, testing resilience and playing out various emergency scenarios. She said that when the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) was alerted to the disruption of data transmission via the subsea cable, the emergency training proved useful, as Latvia had backup capacity agreements in place and data transmission continued uninterrupted.
"Obviously, we are talking about a criminal case, as property has been damaged. It is clear that a data interruption cannot happen by itself. It is caused by a damage. The police response was also very fast," the Latvian foreign minister said.
The minister indicated that the cable was damaged in a section located in Sweden's exclusive economic zone, so Latvia contacted Swedish colleagues, asking for legal assistance from Sweden and other colleagues. The coast guard also got involved and immediately dispatched a boat to the site of the incident. One coast guard vessel was already in the area of the damaged cable. The next steps included alerting the Allies and visually inspecting all ships in the vicinity of the damaged cable.
"The work done so far shows the importance of international legal cooperation [...] For example, customs has its own risk profiles for companies with a history of suspicious transactions, perhaps something like that should be introduced for ships as well," the Latvian foreign minister said.
Braze said that ships, planes and submarines should be kept away from critical infrastructure. "We have agreed to look into aspects of international law and see if there is anything more the Baltic Sea countries can do," she said.
As LETA reported, Valtonen arrived in Latvia on a working visit today to discuss with her Latvian counterpart current regional security issues, further support to Ukraine, the implementation of an effective sanctions policy against Russia, and the future of transatlantic relations.
The Latvian Foreign Ministry notes that since Finland and Sweden joined NATO, the Baltic Sea region has acquired a new outlook for cooperation, dominated by the region’s commitment to strengthening its security. The format of the Baltic States and Nordic countries (NB8) plays an important role in terms of security in the Baltic Sea and the defense of the Baltic airspace and territorial defense.
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