German Foreign Minister Calls for New Sanctions Against Russia Over Cables

Following the damage to the EstLink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for new sanctions against Russia. She spoke about her proposal in an interview with the Funke media group.

She also called for more funding for national security, saying that submarine cables in the Baltic Sea are damaged almost every month.

"This is an urgent wake-up call for all of us. In a digital world, undersea cables are the communications arteries that hold our world together," she said.

The damage to three cables of Elisa Eesti AS and CITIC Telecom CPC was reported to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) on the evening of December 25. A Hong Kong-flagged vessel leaving St. Petersburg was spotted at the site of the alleged cable damage, and an investigation has been launched.

The following day, an oil tanker was detained in Finland on suspicion of damaging cables.

Finland reported damage to four submarine cables the day before . Three data cables run from Finland to Estonia, and one from Finland to Germany.

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