Latvia to support enhanced monitoring of subsea infrastructure in Baltic Sea

  • 2025-01-14
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Latvia will provide support to NATO and the Joint Task Force (JEF) in conducting an enhanced monitoring of subsea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, involving the National Armed Forces' (NAF) Naval Force, Air Force, as well as the State Border Guard and State Police units if necessary, representatives of the Defense Ministry's press office informed LETA.

"Together with our allies, we are ready to intensify the monitoring of ship movements at sea and gather information in order to prevent threats to undersea infrastructure," said Defense Minister Andris Spruds (Progressives), adding that an uninterrupted operation of undersea infrastructure is important for the security of the Baltic Sea region.

The Defense Ministry's representatives indicated that following the recent disruption of power cables between Estonia and Finland, both NATO and the Joint Response Force announced concrete actions to reinforce the monitoring of subsea infrastructure. Operation Nordic Warden in the Baltic Sea reinforces ship and aircraft patrols and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to calculate potential threats to the underwater infrastructure from commercial vessels.

According to the Defense Ministry, NATO member states continue to exchange information on surveillance in the Baltic Sea, and a dedicated center for subsea infrastructure security has been established under Allied Maritime Command to coordinate the response to hybrid threats.