NATO to beef up Baltic security amid unfounded report of Russian fleet

Helsinki, Jan 15: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set to boost its presence in the Baltic Sea through an enhanced vigilance initiative, it was announced at a major summit in Helsinki. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday, announced the plan at the conclusion of the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit, held to discuss ways to strengthen security in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

The initiative, called Baltic Sentry, aims to strengthen maritime presence and monitoring in key areas for the alliance, Rutte explained. Vigilance in the Baltic Sea region will be enhanced by various assets, including frigates and maritime patrol aircraft. Rutter underlined that ship captains must understand that any potential threats to critical infrastructure will result in serious consequences, including boarding, impounding, and arrest.

The move comes amid media reports of the Russian shadow fleet circling over the Baltic Pipe subsea pipeline. The summit, held at the invitation of Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, was attended by heads of state and ministers from Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden, as well as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Henna Virkkunen.

A joint statement issued after the meeting outlined measures to protect critical infrastructure and respond more effectively to threats posed by the alleged Russian shadow fleet. NATO plans to deploy advanced technologies to enhance the monitoring and surveillance of infrastructure and vessels suspected of belonging to the shadow fleet.

However, when asked about the media reports of the Russian shadow fleet on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters he had not received any information concerning the shadow fleet. On the same day, Pawel Wronski, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also reported that the ministry had no information about a shadow fleet ship circling over the Baltic Pipe sub-sea pipeline.