EU grants emergency funding to Finland over Estlink 2 cable damage

The European Commission has approved emergency funding of €1.83 million for Finnish authorities to cover costs linked to the repair of the Estlink 2 power cable.

According to the Interior Ministry of the Interior, the funding, provided through the EU’s Internal Security Fund, will be shared between the Finnish Border Guard, the police, the Defence Forces, and the Transport and Communications Agency Traficom. 

It is intended to reimburse the authorities for extra personnel costs incurred while responding to the incident.

The Estlink 2 cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged on Christmas Day 2024, slashing transmission capacity by more than half and underscoring the vulnerability of Baltic Sea infrastructure.

The fault was traced to the Gulf of Finland, where investigators suspect the Eagle S tanker—part of Russia’s shadow fleet—dragged its anchor across the seabed, also cutting telecom lines.

Finnish police boarded the vessel the same day, and prosecutors later filed charges of aggravated vandalism and telecommunications interference against its crew.

The incident triggered a rapid security response. Estonia deployed naval patrols to protect the adjacent Estlink 1 link, while NATO launched Operation Baltic Sentry to guard undersea cables. Estonian President Alar Karis called the damage a “systemic threat,” not an accident.

Repairs began in May 2025, and the cable was back online by late June.

Although power supplies remained stable, the episode highlighted Europe’s exposure to hybrid risks targeting energy and communications networks.

By Aghakazim Guliyev