Estonia, Finland, Sweden underline importance of functioning of submarine infrastructure

TALLINN - At the meeting of the European Union's telecommunications council in Brussels on Tuesday, topics of undersea infrastructure were discussed, among other things, with the ministers of Estonia, Finland and Sweden stressing that the continuity of critical undersea infrastructure is now more important than ever.

Prompted by recent incidents affecting the underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, Finland, Estonia and Sweden called on the European Commission to propose measures to increase the security and resilience of underwater infrastructure. In a joint letter, the ministers stressed the need for further investment at European Union level, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said in a press release. 

Estonia's Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo said the other member states supported the proposal of Estonia, Finland and Sweden to pay more attention to the subject of undersea communication cables at the level of the EU.

"Recent incidents with the Baltic Sea interconnections have shown all EU member states how vulnerable our submarine cables and infrastructure are. It is therefore important to pay attention to the resilience of the interconnections, both in future investments and in the maintenance of existing infrastructure. Together with our Finnish and Swedish counterparts, we asked the European Commission to consider further investment in upgrading existing ageing submarine communication cables and building new ones," said Riisalo. 

The Finnish and Swedish ministers also confirmed the importance of the resilience of submarine communication infrastructure.

"Europe's communication networks are a prerequisite for the functioning of our digital society and economy. With this in mind, special attention should be paid to cross-border undersea connections," said Lulu Ranne, Finland's minister of transport and communications.

Sweden's Minister for Public Administration Erik Slottner meanwhile said that without adequate investment in resilient undersea communications infrastructure, Europe may not be able to provide the basic connectivity that is essential for the functioning of society and the entire single market.