Lithuanian minister: NATO forces to patrol Baltic Sea for critical infrastructure security

Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė has said that Lithuania will join NATO's programme to protect critical energy infrastructure in the Baltic region.

"Some our forces and resources will be used in a national context, while others will be deployed at the level of the North Atlantic Alliance," she said, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

However, the minister did not provide further details on Lithuania's specific contributions to the mission.

"We do not discuss this publicly," she added, referring to the specifics of the mission.

According to Finnish media, ten ships of NATO member states, stationed in the Baltic Sea and arriving specifically for this mission, will begin patrolling near critical infrastructure cable routes this week. 

"This news is part of our ongoing work. We are aware of it and are involved," Šakalienė emphasised.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has suggested considering Poland's initiative to deploy military patrols in the Baltic Sea to protect infrastructure. 

Rutte announced that NATO has decided to strengthen its military presence in the Baltic in response to the threat of sabotage on underwater cables. This comes after Finnish authorities detained a tanker flying the Cook Islands flag, suspecting it of damaging underwater cables between Finland and Estonia.

By Naila Huseynova